stay
by intoxicativeme
Summary: When she thought leaving was the only choice, how did she find herself back in the one place she ran from. Rei now a famous singer has returned to her home, two years after leaving everyone she knew behind. Leaving her love behind.
1. Chapter 1

Alright everyone I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of the songs used in this fanfic. This is my very first. So be nice or mean it doesn't really matter I just write for the fun of it. The formatting may be a little off. Like a side this is my first time. So I guess enjoy. Oh! Its AU and probably OOC its been a while since I've watch sailor moon.

Everything seemed to be going pretty fast for the raven haired girl. Ever since she had left her home two years ago everything started moving at a fast pace. She told her friends that she needed to find herself and that staying would only cause everyone harm. She fought with every fiber of her being to continue to stay gone but it seemed fate had something else in store for her. The band she started to pass the time had actually become quite popular. She never expected anything like this to happen. The plane would be landing soon and she could feel that this trip home was going to be quite the experience. Looking out the window she sighed catching the attention of the first friend she had made when she arrived in the states.

"You okay Rei?" Markus asked with a raise of his eyebrow

"Yeah, it's just that I haven't been back here in two years. I'm not even sure if my old friends are still around." Rei stated never taking her eyes off the city below.

Rei was never going to get use to the flash of the cameras or the constant nagging of the reporters trying to get any kind of personal details from their lives. She would just smile and answer the questions as vaguely as possible. She wasn't in it for the money or fame. She sang because her heart felt at peace. She wasn't sure if a certain blonde haired girl even listen to her music but just the simple fact that she gets to release her emotions and feelings brings her great comfort.

Turning to Markus as she takes the sunglasses off her head and places them on her eyes. "Let's get out of here before we're over run with fans. I'm pretty tired and would like to get in a nap before we head to the concert hall to start rehearsing for tonight's show."

Rei was amused at the size of the hotel room, she wouldn't deny it she did like some of the perks of being a worldwide sensation. Walking over to the master bed room she set her bags down claiming the room as hers. As she started to shut the door she called out to her other band mates "I'll see you guys in two hours. Please do not let me over sleep, I would like to get in a couple hours of rehearsal before the show."

Rei had intended on taking a nap but found herself making her way to the huge bathroom with a rather large bathtub. She started to run the water making it as hot as she could stand. While the bath was filling she looked around and found some lavender scented bath oil. A smile came to her lips as she poured a few drops into the now full tub. After undressing she steps into the water and instantly her senses are over ran with lavender and the feel of the hot water on her skin relaxes every muscle in her body. Leaning back Rei closes her eyes letting the aroma therapy do its job. She couldn't help but remember the day that she left, the day she had decided to remove herself from a situation that should have never been.

~flash Back~

"Look, I'm sorry, but I have to go. It's just something that I need to do. I... I need to find myself." Rei stated while not really looking at one person.

"I don't understand, I thought you had a scholarship here at the University. You seemed pretty excited that you got accepted into their music program" Amy said being the first to speak with an emotion Rei couldn't quite place.

Sighing Rei replied "Yes, that's all true Amy, but my father is moving to the states and since we've been speaking a lot lately I thought it would be a great time for my father and me to really get to know each other."

It wasn't a total lie, her father was in the states but she wasn't going there to make up for lost time. She had to get away from the blonde haired girl that had captured her every thought and who she wanted so desperately.

~end flash back~

Rei was brought back to reality when there was a knock at the door. She looked around for a second not sure of her surroundings. "Hmm?" she was all she managed to get out. She was overly relaxed and felt like she could slip into a deep sleep at any moment.

"Reiiiiiii, it's been two hours and I am here to wake you from your slumber at your request." Markus yelled through the bed room door.

Rei rolled her eyes and stood up in the tub. 'I guess I won't be getting that nap after all' she thought to herself and let out a sigh. There was another knock at the door this time Markus entered without waiting for a response.

"Rei? Where are you… it's time for us to head down to the concert hall." Markus called out.

"I'm in the bathroom you idiot, now get out so I can put some clothes on." Rei replied walking out of the bathroom in just a cotton robe.

A smirk crept across Markus's face "hmmm… maybe I should stay and help you…"

Rei lightly smacked his arm and pointed to the door "get out of here you pervert"

Markus left while softly chuckling to himself 'she's so easily embarrassed' he thought while closing the door behind him.

Entering the concert hall she stopped to stare at the stage. It was the biggest one they have performed on since starting the tour. She wasn't sure why they had picked a big venue like this. Rei loved it when she could perform for a small crowd. It just seemed more intimate that way. All of their gear was already set up. Rei walked over to her microphone and lightly tapped on it to see if everything was ready to go. Practice would last for about an hour with the show starting at eight pm.

There was a knock at the door Serena turned her head away from the window and said come in. Mina walked over to the bed and sat down for a moment not saying anything just looking at the wall.

"So, there is this concert tonight…"

Mina was cut off before she could even finish her statement. "I'm not in the mood to go out much less go to a concert will hundreds of people smashing into each other" Serena said her voice flat as she continued to look out the window.

"Come on Serena everyone is going, it will be a good time. Besides I think you'll like this band. They're from America and their music as really taken off. It's not good for you to continue to sit around and mope about. It's been two years and she hasn't even tried to contact any one of us. You need this. You're going." Mina stated firmly she refused to take no for an answer

Serena Sighed and gave in, she knew that even if she protested she would end up giving in eventually.

Serena was surprised that everyone had indeed agreed to go she even wondered how Mina had managed to get seven front row tickets. She'd have to talk to her about it later. The show started at eight, everyone decided to save time they would meet at the concert hall. Mina and Serena walked over to the group and decided to hurry to their seats before they would miss the first song. Serena looked down at her ticket and read the band's name 'Conveyable? Why does this sound familiar' she thought to herself.

The place went dark and all you could see where silhouettes of the band on the stage. As the music began to play the stage lights came to focus on the two standing in front. Rei and Markus winked at each other as Rei began to sing

"Why….."

"Spend another night"

"Talking 'bout the times we had"

"We can go outside"

"We can feel alive again"

"From the start"

"Racing hearts"

Serena couldn't believe her eyes, there on stage was the girl who ran away from everything, ran away from her. She followed every move the girl made never taking her eyes off her for fear that if she did she'd wake up from the dream she was surely having. Mina heard her gasp and looked at her friend with a smile on her face and winked. 'Oh, so Mina knew about this, I'll have to get her back for this' Serena thought watching Rei move across the stage with great ease. It was like she belonged up there and she could tell Rei felt at peace. Serena completely missed the rest of the song because she was too deep in thought. Coming out of her stupor she had noticed the song had changed and now there was a man singing as the crowd went wild.

"Don't you think it's time for you?"

"And me to make some history"

"Tell me now what you say"

"Cause we can take anything"

"Just because we're growing up,"

"It doesn't mean we've had enough"

"When the time are hard we'll smile and say"

"We're not afraid of anything (cause we feel young and wild)"

At that moment Rei joined in

"I believe that I can make you scream"

"Oh oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo"

Rei had noticed that Mina came through and had all of her old friends sitting in the front row in awe of what they saw. Then she locked eyes with her. Then girl she had ran away from. There was something in those eyes that she couldn't quite figure out. She broke away from her gaze as another song started to play. Rei smiled and sighed before she started to sing the one song that she thought Serena would never hear.

Rei moved with the beat trying to clear her mind as she began to sing

"Songs in the street"

"A colorful scene"

"It's a perfect night to get carried away with me"

Markus grabbed Rei's hand and spun her around and winked at her before singing

"Don't dance alone"

"Don't take a cab home"

"Don't forget that the world is ours to own"

"Honey I want"

There was a slight pause where Rei and Markus stopped and stared at each other and smiled then both began to sing again.

"You, honey I want you, honey I want you"

"You, honey I want you, honey I want to"

Rei walked over to her Microphone stand placing the mic back where it belongs and started to sing again this time locking eyes again with Serena.

"Follow the sound"

"Run through the crowd"

"Look at me like there's no one else around"

Serena looked way when Markus started singing

"Making a spark"

"We'll light up the dark"

"Feeling high on a summer night"

"Screaming baby I know you're everything I want"

Rei and Markus began to sing again with all the passion they could muster

"You, honey I want you. Honey I want you"

"You, honey I want you, honey I want to"

Serena wasn't sure why there were tears running down her face. All she knew was that the song made her heart beat fast. She couldn't look into those eyes a moment longer so she looked away. She wasn't sure what was going on inside her but she was going to find out. The rest of the night was a blur for her she couldn't focus on anything but Rei. She watched her every move, watched her mouth form every word she sung, watched every smile or wink she'd give her counterpart. She was dying for the show to be over hoping she would get the chance to see the girl who has haunted her dreams for the past two years.

As the show came to the end, the band members had left the stage and the girls were getting ready to leave when Rei and Markus came back to the stage.

"Hey everyone, I'm Markus and this is the ever sunning Rei and we'd like to thank you for making it out to our show tonight. We hope you enjoyed the performance and we hope that we get to meet each and every one of you. We'll be signing autographs in the back in just a few minutes."

"How's it going out there?! Like he said I'm Rei and I'd like to personally thank you all for coming, if it wasn't for the fans our dream wouldn't have come true! Hope you see you in the back in just a few!" Rei said waving to the crowd and walked off stage.

Serena sat down not sure if she should wait to talk to her friend or if it would be better that they just left things the way they were. Serena wondered why they had decided to bring their tour here, back to where she ran away from. Serena was knocked out of her thoughts by Mina tugging on her arm.

"Come on Serena don't you want to go meet that Hunk Markus and say hello to Rei?!"

"Uhh…" was all Serena got out before she was dragged to her feet and the group made their way to get in line to see their old friend.

Serena stood there in anticipation not sure what she would say to the Raven haired girl. The line got shorter and shorter and there was no longer any more excuses Serena could come up with to keep moving her place in line. All that were left was her friends and the two band members. Everyone was standing in a circle talking amongst themselves happy to see their friend and meet her band member Markus. Serena stood away from the crowd not wanting to be a part of the festivities. She had decided that she wasn't going to talk to her. If she wanted to speak with her, she would have to make some effort and even then she wasn't sure she would acknowledge the girl.

Serena leaned up against the wall with her hands shoved into her pockets, closing her eyes for just a second she felt someone's presence. Slowly opening her eyes she saw Rei standing in front of her staring into her eyes. It felt like an eternity before either girl had said anything. Serena couldn't decide if she wanted to yell at the girl or take her in her arms and tell her she really missed her. But by the time she had decided, they were now joined by their friends so Serena just smiled at Rei.

"Oh, man that was a great show! I can't believe you get to tour with this hunk!" Mina stated excitedly.

Rei just rolled her eyes 'same old Mina' she thought. "If you had to spend your every waking moment with this guy you'd be saying something different" Rei laughed at the look on Markus's face.

"Hey I resent that Rei!" Markus pouted and excused himself stating that he needed to help the band take down all their gear.

"So, how long are you here for?" Amy asked

"Well this is the last stop on our world tour so after the four shows we have left they are giving us a break. I'm not sure if we've got any other obligations. So honestly it could be a while, it just depends on the band really" Rei said rubbing the back of her neck looking at Serena for some kind of approval.

"Well I sure do hope we get to spend some time with you in between shows and whatever else you have planned" Lita stated with a smile

"Well I wrote down the hotel I'm staying at and my phone number on the CD Mina forced me to sign. You guys are more than welcome to come hangout anytime I'm free."

Rei looked back at the stage as laughter could be heard throughout the concert hall. "I'm sorry to cut this short but I really need to get back up there with the guys and help break down the set so we can get out of here faster. It's been so long and I'm glad that you guys could make it. Let's get together soon alright guys" Rei said with a soft smile.

Rei hugged everyone expect for Serena and started to walk away. 'This is going to be harder than I thought it would. She didn't even speak to me.' Shaking her head so she wouldn't cry she reached the stage and started to get to work. She tried to not think about the encounter but she kept playing the night over in her head. She must have been lost in thought for longer then she realized because Markus was waving his hand in front of her face trying to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh… sorry" Rei stated absentmindedly

Markus was looking at her with an odd expression on his face "Yeah, so what's going on in that head of yours? I thought you would be excited to see them again. Honestly I thought the first meeting was going to be a little dramatic, maybe some tears or yelling but it played out pretty well."

The slightly taller man put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. If it wasn't for her he doesn't know where he'd be.

Laughing a little Rei looked over her shoulder where her friends had once stood. "Yeah, I guess, but she didn't even talk to me. She looked me right in the eyes and just stood there."

"What do you expect, you ran away two years ago. You weren't even honest with them Rei. I know I shouldn't get into your personal business but since you arrived in the states I've always looked after you. You're like my little sister and I just want your happiness." He looked Rei in the eyes the entire time he spoke letting her know he had meant what he just said.

Rei sighed "Yes I know I didn't deal with things well and I know, I think of you as family as well. How about we stop all this emotional madness and get the hell out of here. The stage hands said they are finished loading up the trailer"

"You can put up those walls but you know damn well that she's only going to knock them down." He says softly releasing her from his hold. The pair walked out the back of the concert hall to the private car that was awaiting them. There were times where Rei wouldn't trade any of this for the world. She loved performing and then there were time she wished she would have never left. 'There are too many what ifs in this world. I need to focus on what is happening right now.' Rei thought leaning her head on the window. She was tired from of the lack of sleep from the plane ride. She was drifting off to sleep when her phone began to ring. At first she was confused, 'Who would be calling me this late at night' she thought but then remembered that she had given her number to the group and silently cursed herself for doing so. She didn't recognize the number but she was sure it was one of her friends.

"Hello?" Rei answered

"Hey… it's uh… I'm sorry I shouldn't have called" the voice for the phone stated and then there was a click and the line went dead.

The girls hung out in the back for a few minutes after Rei had left to go help out the band. Mostly just talking amongst themselves though Serena was staring at Rei while she worked and joked with the boys on stage. She noticed Rei had stopped working and looked like she was lost in thought. Serena was brought out of her own thoughts by Amara placing an arm on her shoulders and pulling her close. Serena looked up at the older woman and smiled lightly.

"I know how hard that must have been for you, though I had hoped you would have at least said something to her. I am glad that you didn't kill her either." Amara said with a chuckle

Seeing the look on her princess's face she continued.

"At least she's back princess. Maybe you can make her stay."

Amara watched the scene unfold on the stage Markus put his arm on Rei's shoulder bringing her close to him.

"Seems to me she has everything she needs up there." Serena said bitterly turning away from the stage headed to the exit. The rest of her friends followed suit. They were out in the parking lot standing around Amara's car talking about when they wanted to meet up again. Serena wasn't really active in the conversation thinking about how she was going to confront Rei.

Serena suddenly blurted out "Mina, give me the CD Rei signed for you."

All the girls stopped talking and just blankly stared at the blonde haired girl. It wasn't like Serena to make demands like that but everyone heard the seriousness in her voice. Mina frowned and handed over the CD.

"I want it back, after all Rei signed it for ME."

"Oh Mina I don't want your stupid CD, I want the number that's on it." Serena entered the number into her cell phone and promptly handed the CD back to Mina.

"I'm free tomorrow if anyone wants to meet up. I didn't sign up for summer classes, so I'm free whenever, I'll be right back" Serena stated before she walked away from the group. She dialed the number and listened to it ring about four times before the person on the other line answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey… It's uh... I'm sorry I shouldn't have called" Serena hung up the phone and mentally kicked herself for being so stupid. She walked back to the group with a lost look in her eyes.

"Princess, what did she say?" Amara asked.

"Nothing… I mean I hung up before she could say anything more than a hello. Ugh, I don't know what's wrong with me, I've waited for her to come home, to me, to us and when she finally does I don't say anything to her… I can't say anything to her." Serena say shoving her hands in her pockets and leaning on Amara's car.

"I'm sure that everything will work out in the end. You'll figure out how to talk to her and who knows maybe she will come around before you do." Michelle said looking at her friend with sad eyes grabbing ahold of Amara.

"Maybe, well it's getting late and I'm getting kind of tired. Could you give me a ride back to my place Amara?" Serena asked staring at the concert hall.

By the time they had arrived at the hotel it was well after one in the morning. Rei was so mentally drained she didn't even care that Serena had called and hung up before she could even say anything more than hello. She stumbled into her room and just flopped down on the bed. Not caring if she went to sleep in her clothes. The next morning Rei awoke with a Start almost forgetting where she was. She got off the bed and headed towards the bedroom door wondering what had awoken her from her sleep.

In the living room sat Markus still in his pajamas eating out of a box of cereal. Rei walked over to the over grown child and took the box out of his hand. "Come on Markus, what are you twelve?"

"Hey! Give that back, I didn't feel like spending money on room service and we don't have any milk!" Markus pouted.

"We'll go out to eat then, just let me take a shower and get dressed. Then I can show you around town, we don't have another gig for like two days so it will be nice to just relax a bit."

"I thought you told your friends you'd hangout with them in your free time. You really don't have to show me around town, the guys and I can manage."

"I'm sure we will meet up, it's still early and I'm sure they are all still sleeping. But if you like I'll give Mina a call and see what everyone is up to"

Rei went to grab her phone out of her room and headed back into the living room dialing Mina's number. For some reason Mina was the only one she stayed in contact with. She made Mina promise that she wouldn't tell anyone that they spoke on a regular basis.

"Umm hmm hello?"

"Hey Mina its Rei" Rei laughed at her half asleep friend giving a look of I told you so to Markus.

"Oh. Oh! Hey Rei man do you get up early!"

"He he well it's always been a habit from back when I worked at the shrine. So listen I was wondering what everyone was doing today. We have a few days off and I thought I'd show Markus and the guys around town and was wondering if any of you guys were free and could come along."

"Well I'm not sure about everyone else but Serena said she was free today and you know I'll be there have to spent as much time with that hunk of yours as I can"

Rolling her eyes at Mina's statement "Oh… well could you get ahold of everyone and see if they would like to come along? We're headed out to breakfast in a few maybe we could meet at the crown around noon?"

"Yeah sure thing… sounds like a plan. See you at noon Rei!"

"See ya"

Looking over at Markus she noticed he had a strange look on his face. "What is your problem?"

"Oh nothing… just that you're blushing. Is a certain someone joining us today?"

"Oh please" was all that Rei said walking back into her room then yelling at her friend "Be ready in thirty minutes!"

Stepping outside of the hotel with sunglasses and her typical beanie she looked like any other tourist. Rei learned quickly to blend in, the last thing she needed was a crowd following her every where she went. That was one of the things she hated most about being known worldwide, the lack of privacy. She shoved her hands in her pockets and waited for Markus and the guys to come down from the room.

The group walked through the doors of the Crown. As the door chimed Andrew lifted his head from the counter to great the new guests. There was five of them four men and one female who seemed oddly familiar. Smiling at the group Andrew motioned for them to take a seat wherever they liked. Rei wasn't sure if he had recognized her or not so she excused herself from the boys and headed over to the counter.

"Hey Andrew, it's been a while no?"

"Hey! I thought that was you Rei, how are things going for you? Glad to see you're back." Looking over at the group of boys sitting at the normal booth Rei and her friends would always sit at when they were younger. "So who are all those guys? Please don't tell me you still have a fan club following you about"

Rei chuckled at the statement and looked back over at the guys. "Those are my band mates" She motioned for Markus to join them. Markus nodded and walked over to the two unsure of who Rei was speaking with.

"This is Markus, he does lead vocals with me. Pretty much like a brother to me" Rei stated and she introduced the two. "This is Andrew, when we were younger we'd spend a lot of time at that very table." Rei stated turning her head back to look at the table the guys were sitting at.

"Oh well any friend of Rei's is a friend of mine" Andrew said happily shaking Markus's hand.

"Likewise, I'm excited that Rei is going to be showing a bit of her home town. You should come to our next show. We're going to be doing something a little different and it would be great if Rei's friends could be there to experience it." Markus stated then excused himself and headed back to the table.

Rei stood there a few more minutes talking to Andrew about the band and their tour and everything that has happened since she left. Looking at her watch she decided she should head back to her group. The girls would be here in a little while.

"Well I should probably head back to the boys, it was nice seeing you again. I'll have our agent drop off a ticket for the next show it really would be nice to see you there."

"Oh I'll be there! Thanks Rei. It was great seeing you!" Andrew replied and returned back to what he was doing.

The band had been idly chatting for what seemed like a good twenty minutes when the chime of the door was heard again. Rei looked up to see Amara, Michelle, Mina and Serena had walked into the crown. Her heart started to beat pretty fast and she wasn't sure if she was blushing. 'You can do this, just relax and act like everything is normal' she thought. 'But what is normal, life has never been normal' she nodded as the four girls walked over to the booth. Rei smiled up at the group and began to stand when Amara spoke "Oh need to get up we'll just grab some chairs." Mina sat down next to Markus with a dreamy expression on her face and Amara and Michelle forced Serena next to Rei which caused both girls to sigh.

"So where's the other three?" Rei inquired.

"Amy said something about a class she was taking with Lita, though I think that was just code for them being busy together and well Trista, you know her. I practically had to beg to come to the show last night." Mina stated always the one for gossip.

Again the group started to talk amongst themselves though Rei wasn't actively in the conversation. She was thinking again. Though she did notice that the blonde next to her wasn't speaking either. She decided that she needed to stop being such an idiot and speak. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she turns to Amara and Michelle.

"So there is this show in a few days and Markus and I have decided that we're going to try something a little different from what we've been doing and I was wondering if you two would like to accompany me up on stage for a song, you both play so beautifully I think it would add a nice dynamic to our sound."

Markus looked at Rei with a curious look on his face. He wasn't sure what she had planned but it wouldn't hurt if he let her have some fun. It was the end of the tour and Rei loved to surprise her fans every now and again.

"We'd be honored Rei, what song do you have in mind?" Michelle asked excited that she'd be on stage again.

"Oh, well… we can talk about that at rehearsal, let's keep it a surprise."

"So mysterious Rei, I love when you cause mischief" Markus cooed a crossed the table.

Rei blushed and stuck her tongue out at her counterpart. "Such the flatterer, Markus."

Rei didn't notice the look she was getting from Serena. The playful banter kept up between the two for another couple of minutes and ended with everyone at the table laughing at Rei's embarrassment.

"Markus I could punch you so hard right now. How about we go visit the park and head over to the shrine. I've been wondering who took over the grounds" Rei stated as she tried to catch her breath.

The group got up to leave, Rei waved at Andrew and called out while they were walking to the door "I better see you at the show!" Andrew just winked and chuckled at himself. While walking down the street Rei fell back behind the group just watching her friends talking to her band mates about how being on tour is and if they miss the states. Serena had made her way to the back of the group as well and she looked at the raven haired girl from out of the corner of her eyes. She took a deep breathe and was just about to say something when she noticed they had reached the park and Rei had stopped dead in her tracks looking far off to the very spot they last saw each other. Rei shook her head again as if willing the memories to leave. Looked at Serena and decided it was time to bite the bullet.

"I remember that night like it was yesterday" Rei said as she started to walk over to their bench. She wasn't sure if Serena was following her or not. She sat down slowly almost as if she was going to break the bench just by touching it. Serena had followed but she didn't sit down next to Rei she just stood there over looking the lake. Everything seemed to come to a stand still as the two both remembered that night.

Mina noticed the two weren't with the group anymore and began to search the park. Realizing where they had gone she went back to the group pointing out the two girls down by the lake.

"I think we should give them some space no?" Amara said as she turned around to go sit by a tree giving the two girls the privacy.

~~Flash back~~

"I don't understand why you have to leave Rei."

"Princess, it's just something I need to do. I'll come back someday."

Serena began to sob and Rei just wrapped her arms around her and held her close. There were too many words left unspoken. Too many feelings and Rei wasn't strong enough to admit to the blonde beauty in her arms that she was everything she will ever want or need. She couldn't deal with rejection.

"Ma... may... maybe things can be different Rei" Serena stated through her sobs.

Rei shook her head 'how can things be different, my love isn't returned' Rei thought to herself but quietly stated "I'm sorry… i… just need to do this. Please understand" Rei didn't like the fact that she was hurting her love but she had decided that this was what needed to happen for everyone's sake. She'll understand someday.

~~End Flash Back~

It seemed like both girls were remembering the same scene and came to at the same exact time. Sometime while they were both deep in thought Serena had sat down and wrapped her arm around Rei's and rested her head on her shoulder. Rei naturally rested her head against Serena's. Both decided it would be best if they didn't say anything and just enjoy each other's company. The silence was beginning to be too much for Serena so she cleared her throat and sat up staring across the water.

"You know I should be extremely pissed off at you. I shouldn't want to talk to you or even have you be a part of my life. You ran Rei, you weren't going to the states to be with your father. You ran away from me. The fact that you tried to lie about it really hurts. I thought we were closer than that and I thought I meant more to you than that." Serena blurted out surprised that she was actually bold enough to express herself so freely.

Rei winced at the words Serena spoke she was right she had lied and she couldn't face the girl she loved most in the word. "I know that saying sorry will never make up for me leaving or for me lying. I just didn't know what else to do. I had to get away from everything I was feeling. I had to forget… I had to give you up." Rei couldn't bring herself to look at the blonde. She knew she was in the wrong and she knew she had hurt her. Serena rested her head back on Rei's shoulder and closed her eyes for a few moments and sighed.

"You know I could never stay mad at you and no matter how much I tried to hate you, I couldn't." Serena stated and she stood up. "I know there is more that you're hiding and I hope that someday you will be able to express what you feel. I'll be here waiting when you can. I'm going to go join the others"

Rei watched her leave and wanted to follow but she couldn't bring herself to stand. She sat there for another few moments looking out over the water. It was getting late and she still wanted to go visit the temple so she forced herself to stand and meet up with the others. Markus saw the expression on her face and wanted so bad to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay. Instead he just punched her in the arm and gave her a wink.

The visit to the shine went pretty well, it pleased her to find out that Chad had taken over the duties and was doing a fine job. She had said good bye to her four friends back at the shine and now found herself lying on her bed staring at the ceiling thinking about today events. 'At least she spoke to me' she thought. The conversation wasn't exactly what she had pictured but at least Serena didn't totally hate her for leaving. Markus entered the room and laid down next to her.

"You know it's a start right? She spoke to you that's something. I think you need to be honest and up front with your emotions. Everyone can tell she loves you Rei, I just don't understand how you don't see it. Maybe you do see it, maybe you just can't accept it because you feel like no one could love you like that."

Rei snorted and looked over at her dear friend giving him a look of don't you dare.

"Or maybe not. But still the facts are there. We all can tell I just think you need to man up so to speak and grow some balls and tell her your feelings."

Rei just rolled over on her side away from her friend. She knew he was right. They were all right but she couldn't bring herself to feel so unprotected.

"Rei everything will work out. Oh and what was that about inviting your friends to play with us?" Markus questioned.

"I figured they could help me out with one of the songs I am going to be singing at the next concert. You said you wanted to do something different so I figured we could pick songs that hold great meaning for us and do a semi acoustic show. Where we sit down with the crowd and talk and just share our journey with them. If I'm not mistaken this venue is a small one so figured why not get intimate with our fans."

Rei said rolling back on her back and looked over at her friend. Markus nodded in agreement, he liked the idea and loved how passionate Rei was about involving their fans. 'Now only if she was this passionate about her feelings for a certain blonde haired woman' he thought getting up from the bed to go find out what the other three were up to. Rei rolled over to reach her phone on the night stand quickly dialing the number before she had the chance to talk herself out of it. The phone rang for a few minutes but went to voicemail. Sighing Rei left a short message "Hey… its Rei… well I just wanted to invite you to the show… well give me a call." Without another word she hung up and threw the phone down next to her on the bed.

Rei woke up rather early the next morning. Rolling over she looked at the clock. 'Seven am, ugh' she thought getting out of bed and headed towards her bathroom. It wasn't often that she had the time to take a bath so once again she filled the tub and just as she was about to get in her phone started to vibrate on the counter. She was just going to ignore it and use the time to relax but she had a feeling that she needed to see who it was that just messaged her. Walking over to her phone she tapped the screen to see Serena's name. She took a deep breath and clicked on the message.

Serena: Sorry I didn't answer last night…

Rei: its okay, so can you make it?

Serena: are the others going?

Rei: Amara and Michelle are preforming and I haven't asked the others, oh Andrew maybe.

Serena: oh…

Rei: I just wanted it to be you, this show is something special, and I think it will help explain things to you.

Rei: just think about it, its tomorrow night. :)

Serena: I'll go… could I um… never mind…

Rei: could you what?

Serena: sigh. Can I come by later?

Rei: of course... Amara and Michelle will be here to practice as well.

Serena: oh well I kind of wanted it to be just us.

Rei: I see… anything for you princess… I will have them gone by two alright?

Serena: alright… well… I'll see you then.

Rei looked at her phone and read the conversation over maybe a dozen times before she realized what she had just agreed to. She set her phone down and got into the bath. 'Just relax' she thought to herself. Rei didn't stay in the bath near as long as she did last time. She figured she shouldn't take so long since two of her friends were bound to arrive any minute. Just as she walked out of her room there was a knock at the door. Smiling she walked over and answered the door.

"Hey guys, come on in. Markus and the boys had a late night last night so I'm pretty sure they're still sleeping."

"Wow, this place is bigger than any of the hotels we've ever stayed in!" Michelle stated in awe.

"Well I'm sure it was just the two of you huh? There is five of us and there is no way I'm sharing with anyone."

"Is that so, Markus and yourself where pretty cozy flirting back and forth at each other at the crown yesterday" Amara cooed.

"Ha-ha, yeah Markus likes to draw attention to himself and he knows how embarrassed I get when he starts acting that way. So I try to dish it back to make him uncomfortable, but it never seems to work. We always end up laughing so hard we cry. You know my feelings for our princess, he is really a big bother figure. He has been there for me since I arrived in the states." Rei explained.

"Uh huh…" Amara smirked.

Rei rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and showed them into the oversized living room where a baby grand piano sat. Amara ran her fingers over the ivory keys and closed her eyes for a moment playing a soft melody. As if on cue Michelle had her violin out and ready to play and moved the bow along the strings with little effort. Rei sat down and watched the couple play together. They complimented each other greatly. Rei smiled as the song ended and lightly clapped.

"That was so beautiful, the way you two play together, and it makes my heart sigh." Rei stated.

Both of the girls smiled and thanked her. While still sitting at the piano Amara turned to Rei.

"So this song you need our help with… what's the name?"

"It's called lost in Paradise. I wrote it just after I arrived in the states. I think if she heard the song she'd completely understand why things happened the way they have. The song starts out with the piano and vocals then the violin comes and then the band. It's a really moving song and who else to play the piano and violin parts then two of my dear friends. It will make it all the more special if she sees that you two are involved."

"Wont the fact of there being over a hundred people there take away from the song? Wouldn't it be better if she heard the song by herself?" Amara asked

"Tomorrow's show is different than any of the shows we've done since we've been on tour. There is only going to be fifty other fans there. It's a semi acoustic show where we sit down with our fans and get to know them on a personal level. We will explain our stories and how we came to be and some meaning behind some of the songs. We'll even have a question and answer section at the end. It's our way of giving back to the fans by opening up ourselves to them."

"You don't see to many performers these days that take the time out to get to know their fans like that. I love the idea" Michelle said happily.

The three of them spent the new few hours going over sheet music and Rei explaining them how the song was to go. It was around one in the afternoon before Markus and the boys had decided to show their faces. Rei had just shown her friends to the door when Markus came from the kitchen.

"You know we should talk to our agent and demand that wherever we stay has to be stocked with food. Room service is going to cost us an arm."

"Oh please you know very well the record label pays for everything and besides I was hoping that you and the guys would go out to lunch this afternoon."

"Is that so? Who's the hot date, some groupie you ran into and decided to bring back to the hotel?" Markus said in mocking tone.

"As if, Serena messaged me this morning and asked if she could stop by and asked if we could be alone"

"Ooo… well in that case I will get the boys asses in gear and we will be out of your hair in thirty!" Markus gave her a wink and walked off down the hall to force the other three out of the hotel.

Rei was beyond nervous, she had no idea what Serena could possibly want to talk to her about. She sat in the living room staring at a TV that wasn't on. Hearing laughter come from down the hall Markus and the guys where pushing each other laughing about something one of them had said. Rei smiled at their actions glad that Markus seemed to be happy, they all did. Things were going well for them.

"So we're headed out, I'll message you later to see if the coast is clear." Markus called out as he was opening the door. Turning back to give Rei a wink not realizing there was someone standing at the door he ran into Serena tumbling over her. They fell to the ground with a big thud. The other band members were laughing hysterically and helped the two off the ground.

"I'm really sorry Serena, I didn't see you there" Markus apologized while running his fingers through his hair.

"Oh no problem, I am the queen of the klutz's so if I'm not falling over someone I'm not doing my job" Serena laughed and smiled at the man in front of her.

"Well you two enjoy, come on boys lets go see what this town has to offer" Once again Markus winked at Rei causing her to shove him out the door closing it behind her.

Serena walked into the living room looking around at how big the place way. "Well you sure are taken care of huh Rei?"

"Yeah… I guess… though we don't really live like this back in the states. Just a perk of traveling the world I guess." Rei stated as she joined her in the living room.

"All of you share one hotel room?"

"I guess we do, never really thought about it. We're all so close. The boys normally double up, though they hardly spend time here."

"Are you happy with him?"

Rei blinked a few time. Not sure if she had heard the blonde correctly. She stumbled over her words trying to grasp what was just asked.

"Um I what?" was the only thing she could get out.

"You and Markus, you seem to be happy together." Serena stated as a matter of fact.

Rei couldn't help but laugh at the statement the girl standing next to her had said.

"Markus and I are not and will never be together Serena" she said laughing as she walked over to the couch to sit down.

"He is a brother to me" Shaking her head to get the thoughts of them being together out of her head.

Serena just stood there looking at the raven haired girl. Feeling kind of foolish for assuming that the two had been together. She couldn't help it, the way the interacted on stage and the scene at the crown yesterday.

"Oh, well don't I feel a little bit foolish"

"Don't worry your pretty little head, there is only one person I love."

With that statement Serena tensed. The look of panic quickly came across her face and she wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going. She wasn't sure where she wanted the conversation to go. Things had changed over the years, she had changed. Darien had been in the states for almost four years and she wasn't even sure he was going to return. They had decided to break it off before he left because when she asked him when he'd be back he had said he wasn't sure. Then shortly after Rei decided to leave. Sensing a change in mood Rei quickly changed the topic.

"So, what would you like to do this afternoon?"

Serena thought about it for a minute. She wasn't sure her reasons for coming over. She needed to make sure that her friend was actually here and that the past few days weren't a dream. She also wanted answers but seeing the girl she'd missed so much sitting there she'd lost her nerve she didn't want to do anything to make her leave again.

"I didn't really think about that. I just wanted to spend some time with you"

"You know you can sit down, I won't bite."

Serena laughed and made her way over to the couch and sat down next to Rei. The pair talked about many different things over the next few hours. Many pointless things. Neither girl spoke of the things they had been dying to ask or been meaning to say. Before long Serena had to leave, Rei reluctantly showed her to the door and asked once more if she'd be at the show tomorrow. Serena smiled and replied with only a nod and started to walk down the hallway. Unknowingly to Rei, Serena had stopped half way down the hallway and turned around to watch the raven haired girl walk back inside the room and shut the door. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes for a second thinking to herself 'why can't she just speak what's in her heart.' Pushing herself off the wall and beginning to walk again she felt herself ran into someone. 'Great two people in one day, I'm on a roll.' She laughed at herself.

"I'm sorry… I should really watch where I'm going…"

"Serena, we should really stop meeting like this" Markus replied with a chuckle

"Oh… hey... Markus"

"So… how'd it go?"

"Well we didn't kill each other if that's what you mean. We still didn't talk about anything though. I'm not really sure where we stand either."

"It's not my place to say, but she loves you. Buuuuut you didn't hear that from me. Please say you'll be at the show tomorrow. It's going to be so much fun!"

"I probably shouldn't but I already told Rei I'd be there… I should really be going…" Without another word Serena walked down the hallway and out of the hotel she needed to get as far away from Rei as she possibly could. There were too many emotions stirring. She was so confused. 'Rei loved her? Why hadn't she just told her? Did she love Rei?'

Markus walked into the hotel room to find Rei staring out the window with a lost expression on her face.

"I literarily ran into Serena again in the hallway" Markus said trying to break the silence.

"Hmmm? Yeah, she has a habit of doing that. Where are the other three?"

"Oh they wondered off somewhere talking about some music store, I wanted to get back to see how you two were doing. Didn't hear from you so I wanted to make sure you two were still alive." Markus laughed a little.

"We talked for hours about nothing that mattered, tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the least. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do this. I couldn't even tell her when we were alone, how am I going to sing these songs and open up myself to these complete strangers? That's going to hurt her even more." Rei sighed and walked away from the window and headed towards her room.

"I'm going to go lay down for a while, tomorrow is going to be one for the record books, I can feel it."

Rei had told Amara and Michelle to meet them at the venue at five to set up and go over the set list and to get some last minute practice in. Rei's nerves were really getting to her today, she was overly jumpy and couldn't seem to calm down. Everything had to be perfect if this was going to work, she had only hoped that Serena would only understand. The four of them were standing behind stage talking about the order of the songs and any last minute changes to the show when the lead stage hand informed them that Serena and Andrew had arrived and where seated at a table to the left of the stage. Amara and Michelle excused themselves and made their way over to the pair.

"Hey you two, are you guys nervous?" Andrew asked excited to see the show.

"I'm more nervous about Serena's reaction then being up there playing, music is my element after all" Michelle stated confidently grabbing ahold of Amara's arm.

"Rei said this was a special show I wonder what she meant by that." Serena said looking at the stage noticing the chairs.

Amara just smiled and pulled out a chair for her love, Michelle smiled and sat. "Well I don't want to give anything away but it's their way of giving back to their fans. We don't perform till the second song so we're going to sit with you till then, that is if you don't mind."

As if on cue Rei and Markus walked out onto the stage waving to the small number of fans. The each took a seat and lowered the microphones to a comfortable level. The band shortly followed taking their seats.

"Hey everyone I'm Rei and this is Markus, we're Conveyable and we've like to start this evening out by explaining why we've asked such a small number of our fans to join us tonight." Rei started out.

Markus continued "We'd like to get to know each and every one of you by sharing are journey."

"Tonight we've picked out song's that mean a great deal to us and explain a great deal about who we are not only as a group but as individuals. We'd like to finish the night off with any questions you might have for us, so what do you say, let's get this party started?" Rei added

"I remember the first time I saw Rei. She was so confident. I remember the first time I heard her sing, I knew I needed to have her apart of my life. Getting to know Rei wasn't an easy task, she was very stubborn as first but she's grown into become my little sister. I would sit for hours and listen to her talk about her friends back home. Listen to her talk about how she left behind the girl she loved and how foolish she had been. Well based off those conversations I wrote this song. It's the first time I've ever played it for anyone, even Rei." Markus paused and looked at Rei and gave her a wink and continued.

"It's called A Drop in the Ocean. It's about a love for a girl and hoping that one day maybe you'd get to finally be together"

The music slowly begins to play, Markus closes his eyes for a brief moment and looks over at Rei and then at Serena and begins to sing.

"A drop in the ocean"

"A change in the weather"

"I was praying that you and me might end up together"

"It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert"

"But I'm holding you closer than most cause you're my heaven"

In that moment Rei and Serena locked eyes and it was like they were the only two that existed. Serena was searching deep into Rei's soul for answers to unasked questioned as Markus continued to sing.

"I don't wanna waste the weekend"

"If you don't love me pretend"

"A few more hour, then it's time to go"

"As my train rolls down the East coast"

"I wonder how you'll keep warm"

"It's too late to cry, too broken to move on"

"Still I can't let you be"

"Most nights I hardly sleep"

"Don't take what you don't need from me"

Serena couldn't look away from Rei there was too much emotion in those eyes. Too much pain on her face. She wanted to make it all go away. She was scared, she wanted to run but she couldn't move. She wasn't ready to feel what she was feeling but she wanted to know more. The sounds of clapping and sighing broke the trance between the two. Rei blushed a little and thanked Markus for such a beautiful song.

"I guess that means I'm up! I'd like to ask two dear friends of mine to join me on stage, Amara and Michelle are you ready? While they make their way up here the song I picked is called Lost in Paradise. I wrote it just before I left for the states so just a little warning it's full of emotion."

Amara and Michelle were getting ready so Rei took the chance to glance as Serena one more time before she looked back at Amara and nodded. Amara began to play a soft slow melody Rei shortly joined in after her.

"I've been believing in something so distant"

"As if I was human"

"And I've been denying"

"This feeling of hopelessness in me"

"In me"

"All the promises I made"

"Just to let you down"

"You believed in me but I'm broken"

"I have nothing left"

"And all I fell is this cruel wanting"

"We've been falling for all this time"

"And now"

"I'm lost in paradise"

Rei lets the music take her over she closes her eyes and sways in her chairs with the melody of the violin. Remembering all the reasons why she left seem so petty and so selfish. She couldn't bring herself to look at Serena, she knew she was looking at her she could feel it. She continued to sing.

"As much as I'd like"

"The past not to exist"

"It still does"

"And as much as I'd like to feel like"

"I belong here"

"I'm just as scared as you"

Rei suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Serena as if giving her access to every part of her. Letting down every single wall she has ever put up. Rei noticed that Serena had Tears running down her cheeks. It took all of her strength to not run off the stage and take her in her arms and tell her everything was going to be alright and she'd never leave again. The song had ended with the last strum of the violin.

Rei smiled "Everyone give a big hand to these two wonderfully talented ladies! Please you two take a bow"

Amara and Michelle walked over to Rei and gave her a hug before walking off stage and back to their seats. Rei turned to Markus and flashed him and smile signaling it was time to carry on with the show. They moved their chairs out of the way and Markus explained what was going to happen next.

"We wanted to sing a song off our new album, the song is called Monster, Rei and I wrote it one day after talking about how we hide who we really are to the people we really care about. If the song makes you feel like you need to dance please feel free, I'm sure we'll be dancing around the stage"

The music started to play and Rei started to dance around Markus and began to sing

"Don't forget me how I was"

"Before I turned into a monster"

"That I never meant to be"

"I'm not who I pretend to be"

Markus then started dancing around then stage and started to sing.

"Hold it in its hard to know"

"Who is really in control?"

Rei took is hand and spun around him and started to sing again

"You're not who I would like to see"

"You're everything I think I need"

They both start singing

"Tell me where you love have gone"

"Don't tell me that it's gone away"

"Baby what you waiting on"

"I'm running out of words to try and make you stay"

Rei danced around the stage for the entire song. By the end of it she was so out of breathe. 'I'm so glad that Markus is doing the next song by himself' she thought to herself as the song came to an end. Grabbing the chairs again they sat down and adjusted the microphones.

"So what did you think of that one? We've got one last song and then we'll get to the fun part. Markus the floor is yours"

"Jeez Rei you sound out of breath, no more running around the stage for you huh?" Markus teased.

"Funny, just sing" Rei laughed.

"Alright, alright, this song is called Wait for me. I wrote this for a special girl back home. Maybe someday it will work out."

Rei picked up an acoustic guitar and started to strum. Markus smiled at her and she smiled back as he began to sing.

"Well I just strum the chords and sing the words"

"It's probably gonna get much worse"

"Before the sun decides to shine again"

"Well I turned 23 this past July"

"And all my dreams they seem to fly away"

"For reasons I don't understand"

"This is not the way"

"That I'd hoped to be"

"This is not the way"

"So if you'd wait for me"

"Come on wait for me, I'll try"

"Maybe we'll find a simple answer tonight"

"If you just wait for me, I'll try"

Rei loved to listen to Markus sing, it's probably why they worked so well together. They both had such a passion for music. The song had ended with one final strum of the guitar, Rei set it down and stood up and looked over the crowd. They were all standing up clapping and yelling. Markus and Rei took a bow. Rei took a quick glance a Serena to make sure she was still there and smiled at her. Serena gave a small smile back. Markus announced they would be back in a few short minutes to stay in their seats that the show wasn't over.

Walking back out on stage Rei's heart sank when she saw that Serena was no longer sitting at the table. She looked at Amara and Michelle who had a sad expression on their face. Andrew didn't know what was going on but he knew he wasn't good. It seemed to Rei that they spent at least three hours answering questions from their fans when all she really wanted to do was go find Serena and find out why she had left, but she couldn't do that to her fans they did mean the world to her. Finally the show was over and everything was loaded up and they could get out of there. Rei checked her phone to see if Serena had left a message or called, there was nothing. As Rei and Markus were leaving the building when Rei noticed that Amara and Michelle had waited for them.

"Hey…" was all Rei could say.

"Are you okay? She said she needed to think about everything, that it was too much. She's just confused about how she should feel. Just give her some time Rei." Amara said giving her friend a hug.

A/N: That's all I've got for now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Same stuff as before, I don't own crap…. Well besides Markus and the band name… those are mine. But sadly no Sailormoon is not… so on with the show… author's note at the end. Enjoy!**

Throughout the entire show Serena didn't look away from Rei. She saw many different emotions, many had left her heartbroken and confused. She didn't understand why Rei didn't think that she could come to her with what she was feeling. 'Weren't we close enough that we could talk to each other about anything' Serena thought to herself as she watched Rei and Markus walk off the stage. Amara and Michelle were talking to Andrew about the song they performed with Rei. Serena couldn't take her eyes of the stage where Rei once had stood. She needed to figure everything out but didn't know if she could face Rei. There were too many thoughts racing through her mind. Turning to the others she joined the conversation for a brief moment.

"So guys that was pretty insightful huh?" Serena stated trying to not give way of her internal conflict.

"There was so much emotion in the show, I wonder who she left behind?" Andrew stated

The three girls just looked at each other and a light blush crept across Serena's face.

"Well, I need to be going. I've got an early start in the morning. Please tell Rei I'm sorry." Serena lied and excused herself from the table. Amara followed her to the exit to make sure she was okay. She knew that this was going to be hard for both of them. Rei was really putting herself out there and her heart on the line and Amara wasn't sure how receptive Serena was going to be to this new found information, though she was hopping for the best.

"Princess!" Amara called out making Serena stop and turn around.

"Listen, I'm really not in the mood for any more schemes Amara, to think you're helping her out. Instead of coming to me she… she ran. She couldn't face me. Then she comes back out of the blue with some band and confesses her undying love for me? Like I'm supposed to just be okay and expect everything." Serena started to raise her voice. She shook her head and whipped away the tears streaming down her face. Amara winced at the sound of her voice but didn't say anything, she knew better.

"I just need some time to think about everything. I need to figure out what is going inside me. If I can forgive her."

"Serena I'm sorry, we thought we were helping. You haven't been the same since she left. We figured if we could help her express her feelings then maybe you'd be happy again." Amara said pulling her friend into a hug.

"Go ahead and take care of things, I'll let Rei know you had to go, just please don't shut her out. She's trying."

Without saying another word Serena turned to walk away. She wasn't sure where she was going but she knew she needed to get some fresh air. Serena walked around the city watching the happy couples walking along the store fronts. Not paying attention to where she was going Serena found herself in the park in front of their bench. She stood for a second looking over the water. A small smile came to her lips as she sat down leaning back on the bench looking up at the stars. The moments seemed to pass slowly for Serena. Thinking about the past few days and how Rei just decided to land this bombshell on her in such a public manor. Serena stayed in that very spot still the sun started to rise. Willing herself to move she stood up taking one last look at the lake and decided to head home. She had turned off her cell phone and was pretty sure that she would have many missed calls and numerous messages from her friends asking if she was alright and offering her some kind of comfort. There were probably some messages from Rei as well. She still wasn't sure how to deal with the situation she was put into. Their bond had seemed unbreakable, but now she wasn't so sure. Her heart was conflicted. Typically when someone confesses their undying love for a person a feeling of relief and happiness would wash over a person and it would feel like it's a dream come true but to Serena it was a slap in the face. 'Maybe I shouldn't let my pride get in the way' Serena thought as she walked into her apartment setting her keys down on the table in the hallway making her way to her bedroom she threw her purse on the bed and went to change her clothes. Looking at the clock on the wall it was almost seven in the morning. Serena sighed and climbed into her bed. Mentally thanking the Gods that she didn't sign up for summer classes this year. Serena took her cell phone out of her purse and set it on the night stand. She wasn't ready to face the world yet. 'A few more hours isn't going to hurt.' Serena thought as she slipped off into a deep sleep.

It was four in the evening when Serena was wakened by a very loud pounding on her door. Startled she sat up and looked around the room quickly as if trying to remember where she was, once she realized she as at home and had been woken up she got out of bed put on a robe and made her way to the door. Opening the door she saw a very pissed yet worried Amara.

"Well, hello Amara, what can I do for you?" Serena asked with a sleepy grin on her face. She knew exactly why her sandy blonde haired friend was here. Serena opened the door wider to let her friend in.

"What the hell are you thinking Serena?! I asked go figure your shit out not completely disappear of the map. We've all been worried about you." Amara stated with concern in her voice, noticing she was still in her pajamas Amara raised an eyebrow.

"Did I wake you? It's not good to sleep all day princess."

"I walked around the city then found myself at the park and ended up watching the sun rise. I got home around seven this morning. So yes I have been sleeping." Serena said as she sat down on the couch pulling her legs beneath her.

Amara sat down next to her and pulled her close not sure of what to say. She didn't want to upset Serena anymore then she already was. Her heart went out to her friend. So they just sat there, neither of them saying a word. Serena let out a sigh and Amara turned her head.

"What is it princess?"

"I don't know how I should feel. I feel so many different things. Hurt, betrayal, happiness, love. I just don't understand how all these emotions can coexist. I want so much to hate her. We were so close, at least I thought we were. Then last night, I should be happy right, she's in love with me but hearing this just infuriates me and makes the pain of her leaving all the more real. How can I face her again? Maybe she shouldn't have come back." Serena stated looking straight ahead not really talking to Amara just speaking her mind trying to make sense of everything.

"Princess, I'm not going to stick up for Rei or justify her reasons for leaving but people who feel a great deal for someone and think that they can never be with that person tend to do things to remove themselves from those situations because it becomes too painful to be involved. The only way you're going to sort any of this out is to have this conversation with Rei. Frankly I think Rei deserves it, she just put her heart and soul out there to you and people she doesn't even know and we know that's a huge step for her. Please don't write her off yet. Figure out what you feel for her and go from there. If there is a chance that you may return those feelings don't let Rei go. Don't be stubborn like Rei, everyone deserves a chance at love."

"That's the thing that really bothers me, she couldn't just come to me and say it out right. She did it in front of strangers."

"You're missing the point Serena, quit being so selfish. She's an icon, a singer, she was giving back to her fans. If she could just come out and say how she felt she wouldn't have had to leave. Rei has never been one to express anything but anger. For her to write songs like that and perform them is beautiful. Rei and grown and matured a lot and if you'd let her, I'm sure she'd show you how she really feels." Amara said with a stern look on her face.

"I'm just not ready, I need more time to figure out my own feelings."

"I know princess, I didn't come over here to force you to go see her, and I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You might want to check your phone. I'm sure by now everyone has called or messaged you. I need to be getting back to Michelle, Rei invited us all over to the hotel to hangout like old times. You're invited of course but I'll let everyone know you had something come up, alright?" Amara said standing up.

Serena walked with Amara to the door and gave her friend a hug.

"I'll be in touch, don't worry about me. I'll give Rei a call in a few days alright? Just give me a few more days to process." Serena called out to her friend then shut the door

Leaning on the door for a few seconds Serena thought it would be good to get out of the house for a while so she decided to take a quick shower then go do some window shopping.

Walking down the city streets looking through the window of various stores Serena let her mind wonder absentmindedly walking along without so much a care in the world. She noticed a record store just down the street and decided to go in. She walked around the aisles not really sure of what she was looking for but she stopped when she saw it Conveyable in big bold letters stared back at her. She couldn't help but pick up the two CDs that where there. 'She's been busy' Serena thought to herself as she looked over the CDs. Serena wasn't sure why but she felt compelled to buy them. After leaving the record store she went straight home. Once inside she opened up the first CD and put it in her Stereo and let the music wash over her. Serena sat in her living room for the rest of the night listening to the words Rei had not be able to say to her. After a while Serena was beginning to understand why it was hard for Rei to talk about her emotions. The two CDs showed a side of Rei that she never showed to anyone not even Serena no matter how close they had been.

The next morning Serena woke up on her couch. Standing up she stretched and rubbed the back of her head and headed into her bedroom and noticed the forgotten cell phone on her night stand. She silently cursed at herself and quickly turned it on. 'My friends are probably going to kill me.' She thought as she watched the screen power up. Within seconds the phone went into a vibrating madness. A dozen voicemail and twice as many messages. Serena rolled her eyes and walked into the bathroom to start her bath while dialing a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me, yes I'm fine…."

"Next time remember to turn on your phone" Amara said annoyed

"Yes, I know Amara, I got into the shower then left, and I didn't think about it, I'm sorry"

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm better, I think I'm going to call Rei today and see if she wants to talk."

"Really?"

"Yeah… hey listen let everyone know I'm okay… I'm not going to reply to all those messages.. I need to be going my bath is ready… have a good day"

"Alright, will do"

Before Serena sat her phone down she sent a quick message to Rei.

Serena: Hey… Sorry for leaving… It was a lot… Do you have time to talk?

Serena quickly got into the bath always the heat of the water to relax her muscles. Not long after she got in the bath she heard her phone go off. She assumed it was Rei so she ignored it allowing herself to relax a little while longer giving herself a little more time to think about what she wanted to say to Rei.

"Are you okay? She said she needed to think about everything, that it was too much. She's just confused about how she should feel. Just give her some time Rei." Amara said giving her friend a hug.

Rei just stood there in her friend's arms she wasn't sure what she was feeling. She was distraught, heartbroken and lost but what did she expect. She knew this wasn't going to go over well. 'I at least had to try' she had thought to herself. Rei headed towards the car, she stopped and turned around and looked at her friends. She had shut them out once and she wasn't going to do it again.

"Hey Amara, could you tell the girls they're invited to the hotel tomorrow to hang out like old times. I could use a break from this so called fast life. We have to go out of town for a couple weeks for the next few shows so I really only have tomorrow with you guys so I don't want to waste the time we have together. Oh and I really appreciate both of you for helping it means the world to me."

Amara gave Rei a small smile and wrapped her arm around Michelle "Sure no problem Rei, I'll even pass the message to Serena, I'm sure she'll come around. She just needs some time to think." The pair turned to walk to their car. Markus rested is arm on Rei's shoulder and looked at her through the corner of his eyes.

"Well it could have gone A LOT worse Rei, she stayed for the whole show. She could have left after the first song. She didn't get up and start yelling or throwing things."

"She still left Markus. What if she hates me?"

"It's a lot to take in. You just confessed your love for her in front of strangers. She probably doesn't know how to handle that. She probably doesn't even understand her own feelings. Just allow her to come to you don't push her, cause if you push her you'll only push her away."

Sighing Rei rested her head on Markus's chest and began to cry. 'Why does loving someone have to be so hard. Why do I have to be so stubborn' she thought as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Let's get you in the car and back to the hotel, you need to get to bed." Markus cooed as he rubbed her back trying to calm her down.

Rei awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. She got out of bed and made her way into the kitchen to her surprise Markus and the guys were already up and sitting in the living room.

"Hey guys, you're up early." Downing a glass of water and some aspirin.

"Uh yeah you have a bunch of babes coming over today Rei who would miss that" one of the band members said with a laugh. Markus punched the guy in the arm.

"We're up to give you support and make sure you're okay"

"I'll be alright, I'm sure the girls coming over will be a good distraction." Said sitting down on one of the chairs propping her feet up on the coffee table closing her eyes and rubbing her temples while leaning her head back on the back of the chair.

"I feel like I was hit by a truck last night, what did we even drink last night?" she asked without even opening her eyes.

Markus just laughed and said "Well there's an empty bottle of tequila in the trash. The things you learn about your friends when drinking. You hold you're liquor rather well. I'm surprised you're awake."

"Funny Markus, do you have to talk so loud."

The four guys laughed at the hung over girl. Rei's eyes suddenly popped open when there was a flash.

"You better delete that right now I swear to god Markus!" Rei yelled as she jumped up from the chair to chase Markus around the hotel room.

"Oh no that was golden. I can't wait to show your friends! Which I should remind you they will be here in less than an hour you might want to go get a shower." Markus said as he ran into his room and locked the door.

Rei rolled her eyes at the door and made her way back to her room to get ready. Rei decided to get a shower since she didn't have a lot of time before her friends would arrive. Letting the water roll over her aching body. She thought about the night before, when they had gotten back to the hotel room Markus as pulled out the bottle of tequila that was given to them by one of their many patrons. Rei couldn't remember how much she had drank but she needed to unwind. She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower as there was a knock at the door.

"Can one of you guys get the door while I get dressed" Rei yelled to the guys in the living room.

When Rei entered the living room her friends were huddled around Markus and his phone. All of them where laughing as Markus showed them pictures of their night after the concert and the picture from this morning. Rei saw red in an instant. She smiled a death glare at Markus letting him know that pay back would be swift and painful. Walking over to Markus she grabbed his phone and sat down in the chair she once sat in earlier that morning. Looking over the pictures she quickly deleted the bunch and threw the phone back at Markus.

"Rei you're no fun." Markus said with a pout.

The Afternoon carried on with many different conversations mostly about how being a famous singer was. How being in America was going and if Rei ever thought about coming back home. The girls talked about what they were doing with their lives. Amy was going to school to be a doctor, Lita was studying to be a Chef, Mina had her modeling and Amara and Michelle toured together. It was a little after three when Amara had to excuse herself from the group.

"I need to go check on Serena she hasn't replied to any of my messages, I need to see if she's okay. I'll be back shortly"

Rei looked over from the conversation she was with Markus and Mina. "Can you please let her know she's invited over.?"

Amara nodded.

Amy was sitting on the couch with her nose in a book with all of a sudden Lita grabbed her book and smiled. "We're visiting with a friend we haven't seen in ages and you've still got your nose in a book babe?"

A blush crept across Amy's face. "Oops" was all Lita said.

"I KNEW IT!" Mina yelled happily.

Rei just looked between her two friends and smiled.

"That's awesome you guys!" Michelle said hugging the two.

Amara returned relatively quickly. Taking her place next to her love wrapping an arm around her kissing her forehead. She noticed the two blushing girls.

"What did I miss?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing just that these two are a couple" Mina stated with a grin.

"About time" Amara chuckled.

"What did Serena say?" Rei asked a little too eagerly.

"She… She said she needs a little more time, but that she will give you a call when she's ready." Amara said with a slight frown. She hated seeing any of her friends hurting.

Rei smiled at her friend and suggested that they go out for dinner and maybe some fun at a karaoke bar. She had hoped that the distraction would help her keep her mind of the blonde haired girl and she was bound and determined to get Markus back for his little stunt this morning.

Rei called ahead to the Karaoke bar and rented the place out for the night. Having access to money had its perks sometimes. It's not that Rei wanted to draw attention to herself, she just wanted to have a nice fun relaxing night with her friends and band mates without having to worry about people recognizing who they were and starting a big frenzy. Somehow word did get out that a certain band was going to be at the bar that night and there was a huge crowd as the group pulled up in their cars. Rolling her eyes Rei put on a smile and got out of the car stopping to sign autographs and take pictures with her fans. Markus loved this part of fame. 'Ever stroking his ego' Rei thought as she motioned for him to hurry up so they could get inside and start their relaxing night of fun. Once inside the owner quickly apologized for the scene outside and let them know that they wouldn't be bothered while they were here. Rei thanked him and went over to the bar to order a round of drinks. Headed back to the table she grabbed a song book and placed it in front of Markus with a smirk on her face.

"Oh tonight is going to be OH so much fun Markus" Rei stated with a squeal.

Everyone in the group raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off and began to look over which songs they wanted to sing. The drinks arrived at the table and Rei decided to do a toast.

"To friendship new and old, may they stand the test of time."

"Indeed, to friendship!" Mina said excitedly

A Few hours and many drinks had gone by and everyone was sitting around the table laughing as Amy was up on stage hopelessly trying to sing "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush. Amy was beyond drunk and thought that serenading Lita in front of all their friends was indeed a good choice. Amara had taken out her phone to record the moment, she was sure the normally reserved girl would love to see this tomorrow. Rei knew that if she got Markus drunk enough she could get him to sing just about anything. First she started out with "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" and next she got him to sing "Baby got back" all while having Amara film it. It was around two in the morning when the group decided they were way to smashed to continue their night of fun and all decided to call it a night. Since they all were pretty much drunk Rei called on their body guards to drive them back to the hotel. Rei was happy for the moment. It had been such a long time since she was able to just go out and have a good time without worrying if someone was going to notice her. Everyone decided to stay at the hotel since they were in no condition to drive. The boys stumbled off to their rooms while Rei looked around for extra blankets for her friends.

"I've never been this drunk before" Amy stated.

"Have you ever been drunk?" Mina asked trying to sit down on the couch but missing causing the group to bust out laughing.

"shhh… guys it's like… hell I don't know what time it is but its late we have to be quiet" Michelle tried to say between her laughs

Rei walked into the living room looking at her friends laughing and just shook her head. Throwing various blankets and pillows at the group. A small fight broke out over the discarded items causing Rei to laugh as she sat in the chair.

"You guys act as if there isn't enough to go around"

"I know one thing… if I can make it there I'm claiming the couch" Mina said as she tried to stand again for the second time.

"Like hell you are blondie" Amara said as she jumped towards the couch.

Unfortunately Mina beat Amara to the couch and Amara's face met the palm of Mina's hand. Falling to the floor she rubbed her cheek.

"Ouch, geez Mina"

"It's only fair, you have Michelle, Amy has Lita and I have myself. So I should get the couch because it really only fits one person. Unless you want me to sleep next to Michelle tonight, in that case you can have the stupid couch" Mina said with a wink. She as a bigger flirt than Amara when she was drunk.

Rei laughed at the conversation going on between the two. She took out her phone to look at the time. It was four in the morning. She needed to get to bed. They had to start packing tomorrow so they could make it to the next city in time for their upcoming concert. Thirty minutes later the conversations had died down and the girls were falling asleep one by one so Rei decided it was time to head to bed herself.

Rei was awoken from her slumber by her cell phone going off in her head. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a few moments trying to will away the pounding of her head. Cursing herself for letting herself drink as much as she did. Slowly she reached for the phone to see who it could be since almost everyone she knew was asleep in her living room. Looking at the screen she saw that there was a message from Serena. The world seemed to come to a crashing halt. It took Rei a moment to let out a breath as she clicked to open the message.

Serena: Hey… Sorry for leaving…. It was a lot… do you have time to talk?

Rei kicked off her covers and jumped out of bed not sure what to do. Hearing someone talking in the living room she raced out of her room to find Amara sitting in the chair with her cell phone in hand about to place it on the table. Amara felt Rei standing behind her and turned around, by the look on the raven haired girl's face Amara knew that Serena had actually tried to reach out to her.

"So what are you going to do, just stand there and gawk at me or are you going to go after her?" Amara simply stated.

"What should I do, I mean should I? What would I say? What…" Rei was cut off by a pillow being thrown in her face.

"Rei, I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible, you're a complete idiot!"

Rei just blinked at the girl. It wasn't that simple she couldn't just go to Serena and tell her everything in her heart. It wasn't that easy was it?

"Hello, earth to Rei" Amara said getting up to wave her hand in front of Rei's face.

"Oh, sorry… was thinking. Maybe I should invite her over here?"

"Don't you think you two should talk alone? We've already tried to help and that hurt the situation."

Rei pulled out her phone and stared at the message once more trying to figure out what to say to the girl she loved more than anything in the world.

Rei: I understand… not alone at the moment… the group spent the night… maybe we can meet somewhere?

Rei waited for a response but after ten minutes she gave up and joined all of her hung over friends in the living room.

Serena had just finished getting dressed when she remembered that she had messaged Rei. She quickly went back to the bathroom to get her phone. She clicked the screen and say that Rei had replied. She was prepared for all the possible answer that could be awaiting her. Rei had every right to tell her no that she was just as hurt and didn't want to speak to her. Serena clicked on the message and a small smile crept upon her lips.

Rei: I understand… not alone at the moment… the group spent the night… maybe we can meet somewhere?

Serena quickly typed away at the screen with lighting speed.

Serena: Sorry for the delay… sure that sounds fine… how about I stop by the hotel and we take a walk… I'd like the girls to see I'm okay…

Rei: No worries, see you soon.

Rei hadn't meant to be so short with her she was just freaking out because in god knows how short of a time she was going to be having a very uncomfortable talk with the one person that makes her feel so many different things. Rei looked over at all of her friends, they were still all lying about looking like they were on deaths door step. 'They must not drink very often' Rei thought to herself as she walked into the kitchen to make some coffee for the group when they decided they wanted to rejoin the land of the living. The coffee was almost done when there was a knock at the door. Rei jumped about three feet in the air. She wasn't expecting Serena to be here that quickly, she wasn't even out of her pajamas yet. Walking over to the door she looked back at the girls and laughed. 'Oh Serena is going to have fun with this' she thought opening the door.

"Hey… you got here rather quickly"

"hehe… well I was already dressed so I figured why not. I see you're at a slow start this morning" Serena laughed a little.

"Yeah, actually you woke Amara and me up. It was bit of a late night for us all." Rei stated as she pointed to the living room where all her closest friends were still sleeping.

"What did you do to them Rei?!" Serena asked shocked at the sight before her eyes.

"Uh… well that's what a few hours of drinking looks like I guess…" Rei said closing the door and rubbing the back of her head.

"What?!"

"Oh come on, we're all of age. Last night we all went out to dinner and decided to go to this Karaoke bar. We drank and sang. It was hilarious. You should see the video of Amy." Rei said making her way back into the kitchen.

"You mean to tell me AMY, smart reserved AMY was drunk last night" Serena yelled.

"Serena could you please refrain from yelling, you're making my ears want to bleed and my head is killing me" Mina mumbled from the couch. The girl sat up looking at her friend with daggers in her eyes.

"Well shit, she is alive. There's coffee in the kitchen help yourself… I need to go get dressed" Rei excused herself and walked into her room closing the door behind her.

She leaned on the door for a moment trying to catch her breath. The interaction with Serena was like it had been before she had decided to run away. It was like she had never left. Rei didn't waste any time getting dressed. When she emerged from her room all the girls were awake with coffee in their hands looking a lot better than an hour ago. Amara was sitting next to Serena and Amy was on the other side of her watching the video she took of Amy the night before. A blush came across Amy's face and the other girls couldn't help but laugh at the blue haired girl. Serena just sat there blinking at the screen then back at Amy then at Lita and back at the screen.

"So wait… Amy and Lita are TOGETHER?!" Serena exclaimed happily.

"Really, Amy is drunk on stage singing and all you picked up on is that they are together?" Mina stated with a sigh.

Noticing Rei had returned Amara got up and handed the phone to Rei.

"You should see the videos of Markus. They are priceless. What do you plan to do with them?" Amara asked.

Rei smiled watching the videos. "Oh, just hold onto those for me. I have an idea I just have to run it by our agent."

"So Serena you ready to go?" tried to ask without sounding to anxious.

Serena looked at the girl for a moment. Smiled and nodded her head and stood up.

"You all owe me stories and I won't forget… it's not every day that all of my friends get drunk without me."

"Oh no princess, no stories from me, you were invited. Your loss." Amara said with a smirked.

Serena and Rei both rolled their eyes and they headed towards the door.

"You guys are welcome to stay as long as you like. Maybe after we get back, we can grab some lunch. We leave tomorrow morning." Rei called over her shoulder as she shut the hotel room door.

"What do you mean you leave tomorrow morning, you just got here" Serena stated with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh, we're just going to another city just north of here for a couple concerts. Then we decide if we're going to stay around for a bit or head back to the states to start working on our next album." Rei stated trying to reassure the girl that she wasn't leaving just yet.

"So, where would you like to go?" Rei questioned.

"Could we go to the park?" Serena asked looking at the raven haired girl out of the corner of her eyes.

The park wasn't too far from the hotel so they decided to walk. Rei had told her bodyguards that she would be fine by herself and that if she got into any trouble they were just a phone call away. Those the walk was relatively short neither of them spoke and felt like the walk had taken hours to get to the park. Without hesitation they headed to the spot they both knew so well. It was their spot, they had spent so many late nights sitting on that very bench looking over the water. Normally Serena was talking about her and Darien. Rei was always the silent type. Rei sighed catching the attention of the blonde haired girl. Serena looked over at her and started to say something but nothing came out. She still didn't know what to say to the girl. So the pair sat on the bench overlooking the water just enjoying being next to each other. Sometime had gone before Rei finally spoke.

"You should come with us when we leave tomorrow" Rei stated. Feeling like it felt more like a demand then a request she continued. "I mean that is if you want to."

Serena just looked over the water and didn't reply. A few moments later Rei began again.

"I understand things are probably really hard for you at the moment. I just want to apologize for expressing my feelings for you the way I did. Singing is the only way I know how to release what's locked up inside. I never meant to hurt you."

Still nothing from Serena it was like she was in some kind of trance. Rei was beginning to get worried so she snapped her fingers in front of Serena's face. Serena had a look of annoyance on her face and looked at Rei.

"I was listening Rei, but I was thinking at the same time. I'm sorry for shutting you out. You're right it is a lot to deal with. I don't have it all figured out yet but I can't keep hurting you either. You're my best friend and I need you a part of my life."

'Great there's the letdown, she doesn't love me back' Rei thought looking away from Serena to look back out over the water.

"Rei please don't be sad, I feel for you… I do… I'm just not sure what I feel for you and I need to figure that out. So I'm not going to run away from whatever is happening but we have a lot to work on."

"Serena… you don't have…"

Rei was cut off by Serena placing her hand over Rei's and squeezed it.

"Rei, you really need to stop believing that you're not allowed the same things everyone else is."

"Serena… it's just that…"

This time Rei was cut off by Serena lips firmly pressed against hers. For a second Rei was in shock but quickly recovered making sure to kiss the girl back. It was a small sweet innocent kiss, but it meant the world to Rei. Serena scooted closer to Rei and wrapped her arms around Rei's and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. The pair stayed like that for another hour or so before Rei could hear the sound of Serena's stomach make a loud grumble. Laughing the raven haired girl pulled her love up and the pair walked back to the hotel.

During their short walk Rei's mind was racing with too many thoughts. She wasn't sure if they were together. She didn't want to ask for fear of rejection. The fact that Serena had admitted that she had felt something for her was okay for now. Rei sighed as they reached the hotel lobby. She didn't want to go back up stairs and act like things weren't different between the two. To Rei's surprise Serena didn't let go of her arm when they reached her hotel room. Rei looked at the blonde for a moment then reached into her pocket to get her keys. Rei held the door open for Serena and just stood there till the girl had walked past her then shut the door. Their friends were all sitting around the living room talking and laughing about a story Markus was telling when the pair walked into the living room.

Rei plopped herself down on the empty chair by Markus and rested her feet on the coffee table and relaxed back into the seat. To her surprise Serena sat on the arm of the chair letting her hand rest on Rei's arm. Rei smiled at the small sign of affection. The pair hadn't discussed how they were going to handle their situation with their friends but right now none of that mattered. Another loud grumble came from Serena's stomach and the group laughed.

Through her laughter Rei stated "We decided to come back since SOMEONE was hungry and figured you all would want to grab something as well."

Serena punched Rei's arm lightly as the group continued to laugh. The group made their way to the crown for lunch and a few video games.

Markus and Rei were the only two left at the table while the other had decided they would go play some games while they waited for their food. Rei was watching Mina and Serena at the racing game and laughed to herself as like always Serena had lost for the third time. Rei turned around to see Markus staring at her.

"What?" Rei said with annoyed look.

"So how was your talk with blondie over there?" Markus said as he raised his eyebrow.

Rei shrugged "It went a lot better than I thought it would."

"Mhmm, spill"

"Now, now Markus I never kiss and tell" Rei said with a wink.

"You mean… you and her…." Markus was taken aback by this new found information. He never thought Rei was ever going to be bold enough to make a move on the girl.

"Well she kissed me" Rei stated as a blush came over her face.

At the moment everyone had decided to head back to the table and notice Rei was blushing. Serena sat down next to Rei and looked at the two of them and wondered what they had been talking about. Serena grabbed Rei's hand catching the attention of not only the raven haired girl but everyone else as well. The two sat there looking at each other's hands for a moment then looked at everyone who had all be smiling at the pair.

"Thank the Lord, it's about time" Mina was the first to speak.

Rei was unsure of how this was going to play out. They hadn't discussed if they were together. They hadn't really talked about anything. The only thing that was out there is that they had feelings for each other. Rei looked at Serena out of the corner of her eye to see how she was going to react and what she saw made her frown. Serena looked like she was about to cry. There were tears in her eyes. She wanted so badly to wrap her arms around the girl and hold her close. But she couldn't not in front of everyone. Not when she didn't know where they stood. Rei was brought back from her thoughts by the sound of Serena's voice.

"I… I… need to be going, Rei would you mind taking me home?" Serena asked as she stood up from the booth.

Rei let out a sigh and stood as well. "The past two days have been wonderful guys. We must get together when we return in a few weeks. I'll see you back at the hotel alright Markus?" Rei hugged each one of her friends and punched Markus on the arm. The pair walked out of the crown and headed towards Serena's.

Once they were away from the crown Serena wrapped her arms around Rei's and kept herself close. Rei looked over at the girl and wonder what was bothering her. The pair didn't speak the entire walk back to Serena's apartment. They reached the door and both stood there looking into each other's eyes. Rei broke the trance by looking away first. She didn't know what to say to the girl so she felt like she should just leave. Rei started to turn to leave when she felt a hand on her wrist pulling her back to where she once stood.

"I'm sorry if I acted like such a child in front of our friends" Serena spoke at almost a whisper.

Rei wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in close resting her chin on the top her Serena's head.

"No worries, I didn't know how to react myself"

Rei held her for a few moments more than reluctantly let her go.

"Please come in, you don't have to go." Serena said almost as if she was pleading.

"I wish I could, we leave tomorrow…. I still have to pack"

Serena looked sad for a moment. Then a smile came to her face. "Does your offer still stand?" Serena asked. Rei looked at the girl a moment trying to figure out what offer she was speaking of but then remembered she invited her to come with her.

"Only if you want to"

Serena cocked her head to the side a moment thinking about if it was a wise choice to leave for three weeks. Serena then wrapped her arms around Rei's neck and pulled her in for a kiss. When they broke from the kiss Rei's breath was shallow. Looking into the girl's eyes she smiled "Well I guess that's a yes." Rei kissed her again.

After their mini make out session on Serena's front porch. Serena had finally managed to get inside and start to pack. A Panic set in, she was only now just beginning to realize what she had agreed to. Three weeks on tour with Rei in another city. There were many things going through her head and she had debated on canceling. But she couldn't she needed to figure out what was going to between her and Rei and the only way that was going to happen was if she was with Rei. Sitting here for three weeks while Rei is out doing God knows what would drive her insane. She stopped what she was doing. 'When did I get so possessive' Serena thought as she looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. Rei had said that she'd send a car to pick her up around five in the morning. Serena started to run around the room. There was too much left to do she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep. Serena picked up the phone and dialed Amara.

"Hello?"

"Hey… it's me…I need a favor"

"Serena are you okay? It's late…"

"Yeah I'm okay, I'm going with Rei on tour and I need someone to check in on the place while I'm gone."

"Oh… Wait what?!"

"Just check the mail for me will you?"

"Anything for you princess"

Serena rolled her eyes at the remark and hung up the phone. It had taken Serena two hours to get everything packed and ready to go. Her bags were sitting by the door. She looked around the living room not sure what to do with herself so she picked up her phone to message Rei.

Serena: all packed :)

Rei: :)… Why are you still up?

Serena: I can't sleep, so many different emotions…

Rei: same here… I'm excited though.

Serena and Rei messaged each other back in forth throughout the night. Just as Rei had said there was a Knock at the door. Serena looked at the clock, five am. She let out a sigh and opened the door. To her surprise the man standing before her wasn't the driver that Rei sent instead it was Darien. Serena stood there in shock for a moment. 'This has to be a dream' she thought. Serena closed the door for a minute then opened it again and there he was standing there, very really not a dream at all.

"hello" was all she could manage to say.

**A/N: Okkkkkaaaayyy…. I had to stop it there. I didn't even expect to have Darien in this story at all. I really love Rei and Serena as a couple. But while I was writing my mind turned evil and thought it couldn't be that easy for my dear Rei. I also stopped there because it's the perfect cliffhanger. Does she still go with Rei or does she decide to stay and talk to Darien… hmmmm…. I haven't decided yet…**

**Also I noticed after re reading the first part of this there are some errors… which annoy me to no end… I had read the first part of this like a million times and still only caught them after I posted it. For that I am sorry. I wanted to average about 10,000 words a story but I stopped just shy of 8000 for this one because it's a great place to end. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Standard stuff…. I don't own anything…. Yada yada yada… Sailor moon isn't mine…. **

Serena stood there in the door way for what seemed like hours just staring at the man before her. It was fifteen after and she knew that Rei was waiting on her. She looked down at her bags and let out a sigh opening the door allowing Darien access to her home. Darien walked passed her and stood in the hall way waiting for Serena lead him into the living room. Serena stood in the same spot she's been in for what seems like an eternity looking at the curb where there was a black car waiting for her. She ran into her room grabbed a pen and wrote down a quick note and in a flash was out the door. Darien watched with a confused look on his face, looking down he noticed her bags were packed and that she was supposed to be headed somewhere. Serena was outside but a moment and came in with an expression on her face that he couldn't quite place. Walking past Darien, Serena made her way into her living room and sat down on the couch. Darien followed behind her and stood there not sure what to say or how to react.

"Is this a bad time?" Darien asked not taking his eyes off the blonde he hadn't seen in over four years.

Serena's concentration was broken by hearing Darien speak. 'Nope, definitely not a dream' Serena said to herself still staring straight ahead not sure of what to do next. She was mentally scolding herself for not ignoring the man in front of her and for not getting in that car. Another ten minutes went by without a word and Darien was starting to get annoyed.

"Aren't you the least bit happy to see me?" He asked.

Serena snapped her head in his direction and took a deep breath then let it out slowly. She wasn't sure how she felt. She surely wasn't happy, Darien showing up at ruined things. He had popped her happy little bubble and now she was back to being lost and confused. She was now faced with the reality that things are never easy. She laughed at herself for a second then shook her head as if she was clearing her mind of the madness that was about to come.

"What are you doing here?" she said nothing more than a whisper.

"My plane just landed and I needed to see you." Darien stated.

"At five in the morning Darien, really? You didn't even let me know you were going to be in town." Serena spat out angrily. Darien winced at the tone of her voice. 'She is angry.' He thought.

"I know this is a highly inappropriate time but the way we left things, I needed to see you"

Serena scoffed and rolled her eyes. 'Figures this would happen now.' She was angry more at herself than Darien. They had been together all throughout high school and it was her idea to break off their relationship while he was in America. She had hardly spoke to him in the past four years. It was easier that way. She didn't want to be in a relationship with someone she couldn't see or be with and when Darien said he wasn't sure when he would be coming back she knew it was over. She had thought that both of them agreed and that it was a mutual break up. Sighing to herself she thought. 'Guess I was wrong.' Rei flashed a crossed her mind and she frowned. What did this mean for them, how could she face Rei after she bailed on the girl for Darien.

Darien noticed the frown. "I can go Serena, I'm sorry to have bothered you."

Serena let out a sigh. "No please, sit, we should probably talk about things."

Darien took a seat and looked at the girl who seemed to be in the middle of a mental battle of some sort.

"It looks like you were headed somewhere, we can talk another time when you return from wherever you're headed."

"I'm sure the chance is long gone, though I'm sure that she'll understand why I was unable to attend." Serena said with a small smile relaxing into her couch.

Darien looked over at the girl not really understanding who or what she was talking about. The pair sat there for another few minutes before Serena spoke.

"How long are you in town?"

"Well I finished my degree a few months ago, so I figured I would take a little vacation."

Serena was shocked. She couldn't understand why everyone that was important to her had the need to leave her then randomly show back up to make her life a confusing wreck. She looked over at Darien trying to read him.

"That didn't answer my question." Serena pointed out.

"Well I'm not sure actually, I have a few job offers here and in the states. I guess that all depends on you."

"Why me?"

"Well I was hoping that if spent some time together that we could work things out."

Serena let out a loud sigh and put a pillow over her face and screamed. Darien looked at her and raised an eyebrow. A minute later Serena took the pillow off her face and placed it back on the couch.

"I think it's time for you to leave Darien." Serena said in a flat voice. Standing up she headed towards the door. Darien didn't protest and quickly stood up and followed. When they reached the door Darien faced Serena and looked down at the petit blonde holding the door open for him. He gave her a smile and then kissed her cheek. Serena blushed a little and watched Darien walk down the path. She shut the door and slid down, pulling her legs up to her chest and began to cry. Serena wasn't sure what she was going to do. She needed to get a hold of Rei but wasn't sure what she could say to her to make up for not going. She knew the excuse wasn't good enough, nothing short of death would have been good enough for her canceling on Rei. Serena sat there with her head rested on her knees the tears had stopped flowing long ago but she couldn't will herself to move. It seemed like everything was crashing down around her. She reached for her phone hoping that Rei had messaged her or tried to call but there was nothing. With Shaky hands Serena dialed the raven haired girl's number, bringing the phone up to her ear her heart raced as she thought about what she would say. Serena stared at the phone for a second as the voicemail message played through the phone. She let out a small sigh and hung up the phone without leaving a message. Serena picked herself up off the ground and walked to her bedroom not caring that her bags were still sitting in the living room. She had been up for almost two days and needed to get some sleep for her sanity's sake. Too much has happened within the past twenty-four hours and she didn't want to deal with anything else.

Amara had just arrived at Serena's apartment to check on things like she had promised. It was a little after three in the afternoon. She walked over to the mail box to check the mail and then let herself into Serena's. She immediately saw that Serena's bags were still sitting there in the hall way. Amara panicked and ran through the apartment looking for any sign of Serena. Amara made her way to the bedroom where she found her friend fast asleep holding onto a pillow with tear stained cheeks. She walked over to the bed and little nudged Serena trying to wake her up without scaring her to death. Serena woke with a fright, jumping from the bed throwing the pillow she was holding in the direction of her attacker.

"Princess, calm down it's just me." Amara said wrapping her arms around the shaken girl.

"What are you doing here?" she said as she let out a sigh

"I should be asking you the same thing" Amara said raising an eyebrow.

Serena began to cry again. She just wanted to forget. She was the one who felt like running away now. She couldn't find the words to tell her friend how stupid she had been so she just stayed in her arms and cried.

"Princess, what happened did you guys have a fight?"

Serena shook her head. 'A fight, I could have handled that' Serena thought to herself as she pulled away from her friend and sat down on her bed.

"I was waiting for the car to arrive like Rei said it would, so naturally when I heard the knock on the door I thought it was just the driver. But when I opened the door… D... Darien was standing there hair a mess like he had been on a plane all night. I didn't know what to do so I stood there and I froze. So I wrote a message to Rei and sent the driver away and welcomed Darien in…" Serena trailed off not really wanting to continue the story.

"I have a feeling there's more to this"

Serena could only nod as she looked at her friend. Sighing again she continued her story.

"So we talked, I asked him why he was here and how long he was planning on staying. Then… then he..." Serena trailed off again with a blush on her face.

"Then he said he wanted to work things out between the two of us and that based upon that is how long he was going to stay. I didn't say anything to that and told him it was time for him to leave. As he was leaving he kissed my cheek." Another blush crept on her face.

Amara sat down on the bed next to her friend and leaned back on her hands. "So what are you going to do?" she questioned. Serena laid on her back looking up at her ceiling placing her hands behind her head.

"I have no idea, I am scared that Rei will never speak to me again. I tried calling but her phone is off. She didn't message or call, so I'm not even sure she got my note."

The older blonde looked at her friend for a moment and tilted her head. "What are you going to do about Darien?"

"He wants to spend some time together to see if things could be different between us. I don't know what I should do. Everything is happening so quickly. I thought I was just figuring everything out. I told Rei I wouldn't run from her, from us. Look at me, I did just that. All because my old high school boyfriends shows up out of the blue" Serena picked up a pillow and placed it over her face. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to be somewhere in a far off place. Amara removed the pillow from the girls face and smiled down at her.

"Love isn't easy my dear, if it were I'm sure life would be a bore. You can't sit here in self-pity. You don't even know how Rei is handling this. I'm sure her phone is off simply because they are traveling. They will be in the city by tonight. In the meantime come spend the day with Michelle and me, hmm?"

Serena thought on it for a moment and decided that she needed her friends right now and shutting herself away wasn't going to solve anything. She excused herself to go take a shower and get dressed. Amara found herself walking around the living room looking at the various pictures of the group throughout the years. Amara pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick message noticing Serena was now in the living room she quickly put her phone away and headed towards the door.

It was five-thirty before the car Rei had sent to Serena's had returned. She was a little annoyed at the girl, though this is something she should have expected from Serena. There was a look of confusion when she noticed the driver had only stopped to hand Markus a piece of paper with Rei's name on it. Once she saw her name she knew what the note had said. 'She wasn't coming' Rei thought fighting back the tears. The city they were traveling to wasn't very far, maybe a four hour train ride north. So the band had decided that they would take the train and one of their body guards would drive their equipment up. Rei stood there a moment lost in her own thoughts when a hand touched her shoulder. She jumped about three feet in the air and screamed slightly.

"Rei… this note is for you…. It's from…"

"I know who it's from…. She isn't coming…"

Rei walked passed him without taking the note from his hands. Markus let out a sigh and walked after her. She stopped at the corner and waiting for cars to go by so she continue walking. She didn't need a lecture about how love prevails over all and all this bullshit she has been fed by Markus for the past two years. Markus quickly caught up with her and grabbed her wrist. He spun her around and wrapped her arms around her.

"It's okay to cry and scream and shout… but a refuse to let you run again."

"I can't handle this Markus. It's over… I tried…"

"Don't you want to at least read the note… maybe it's an emergency."

"Do you really think if it were an emergency that she would send a stupid note?!" Rei yelled at the man standing before her. There was a slight flicker in her eyes, it was like something had been switched. Rei pulled away from her friend and walked back in the direction of the hotel where their band was waiting on them. She pulled down her sunglasses and climb in the car waiting on the others so they could head to the train station. She looked around in her bag for her cell phone, after finding it she clicked the screen. No messages or missed calls. With a push of a button she turned the device off. She let out a sigh and rested her head back on the seat. She pulled out her mp3 player and put on her headphones trying to drown out the guy's conversation. 'This train ride is going to be hell.' Rei thought, all she wanted to do was get to the next venue so she could throw herself into singing and she wouldn't have to think about anything but the performance about her fans. That's all that mattered now.

They had reached the train station. There were a huge group of fans waiting behind the roped off section waiting to meet the band. Looking through the window at the crowd Rei put on her sunglasses and plastered a smile on her face then stepped out of the car. The crowd started to go wild calling for Rei's attention. She walked over to them and started signing autographs and taking pictures with some of their fans. Markus quickly joined her eating up all the attention. The two posed for pictures and then waved bye to their fans making their way to the platform to await for the train to arrive.

When the train arrived Rei quickly climbed aboard and headed straight for a window seat. Putting her head phones back in her ears she rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. She didn't want to deal with anything at the moment. Her heart was breaking. She opened her eyes looking around to see where everyone was. Standing up she stretched and walking through the car to find out where Markus was. A few moments later she found the boys sitting in the bar car having a few drinks. Rei sat down next to Markus and tried to plaster a fake smile on her face.

"How long have I been asleep?" Rei questioned.

"We have maybe another hour before we get there. How are you holding up? Markus replied after taking a sip of his drink.

Rei looked at the drink he was nursing and took it out of his hands and down it in one gulp. Setting the glass down, she motioned for the bartender. Markus laughed a little "That bad huh?" Rei shot him a look that said don't mess with me right now. In retrospect it probably wasn't the best way to deal with the situation at hand but she needed to forget at least for a little while. They didn't have a show for a couple of days, she needed something to keep her mind busy or she'd go insane.

"When you feel like talking about things I'm here Rei." Markus stated with a genuine smile.

"There isn't anything to talk about. I tried. It didn't work." Rei said with a shrug. She was trying to hide her emotions from her friend. She knew she was failing but she hated feeling weak.

"Uh huh…." Was all Markus got out before Rei slammed down another drink. Markus took the glass from her and told the bartender to not serve her anymore.

"Look, I'm not going to allow you to form some drinking habit over a girl. All you could do is try. If it's meant to be things will work out." Markus said a little annoyed.

"I'm tired of hearing everything is going to work out. I'm just done."

Markus looked at the girl and shook his head. 'She's lying to herself if she really believes she's done.' Markus thought. Markus stood up and grabbed Rei's hand and pulled her all the way back to their seats.

"Sit." It was a simple command. Markus waited till Rei complied. He understood the pain she was feeling at the moment but it pissed him off that she was acting like a spoiled brat. She didn't know the reasons why Serena couldn't come. She didn't read the note, she just stormed off like a child running again.

"I understand you're probably really hurt, you're let down. You had it in your head that you were going to get to spend three weeks with Serena without the influence of your friends. Something came up Rei. I'm sure it's a good reason. You of all people should know that life isn't going to give you everything you want and if this doesn't work out, you've learned something from it. First loves are always the hardest to get over Rei keep that in mind."

Rei didn't say anything she just looked out the window watching the scenes pass by.

"I'm not going to sit here and lecture you the rest of the way. Just realize that maybe things aren't the way you think they are." Markus said as he took hold of her hand and gave it a little squeeze then got up and made his way back to the other band members."

Rei put her headphones back in and grabbed the spiral note book from out of her bag and began to write. She needed to get everything she was feeling out and the only way she knew how to do that was to put her feelings into random melodies.

The time passed by quickly for the five of them. The train had come to a stop and the only thing that broke Rei out the zone she was in was the shadow that Markus was casting over her notebook. She looked up at him and then out the window. She noticed that they were stopped so she began to put her things away when Markus grabbed the notebook and began to read. For split second Rei began to panic, she rarely let anyone read the note book but she knew Markus wasn't going to judge what was written in between the pages.

Markus sat down next to her and handed the notebook back to her with a soft smile.

"You've always wrote your best work when you get emotionally involved. There are some good lines in there. When we get to the hotel lets book some studio time and record a little. It's been a while since we messed around with some new material." Markus stood up to go grab his own stuff and stepped off the train.

Rei quickly followed putting her sunglasses over her puffy red eyes. There was another huge crowd waiting for the band as they exited the train. The pair spent about an hour signing autographs and taking pictures. They even answered some questions for the reporters and tabloids that were on scene. They finally reached their hotel around six o'clock that evening. Rei was worn out all she wanted to do was get a nice long hot shower to relax her aching muscles. This time around they had three different rooms since the plan was that Serena would be joining them Rei wanted to have some privacy. Walking into her hotel room she looked around for a second. It wasn't as big as the one they had just left but it wasn't small either. She sat her bad on the bed then walked into the bathroom. She turned on the water and turned it as high as she could stand. She walked back into the room and took off her jacket and emptied her pockets on the bed side table. Looking at the discarded cell phone she thought for a brief moment that she should turn it back on. Shaking her head she walked back into the bathroom. 'I can't, not yet' she thought to herself then proceeded to get undressed.

Rei stepped into the shower and let the scorching water run over her body. She stood there taking the assault on her body, she wanted to feel numb. Rei wasn't sure how long had passed but she had noticed that her skin was blood red in color and decided to get out of the shower. Walking into her room in nothing but a towel around her head she unzipped her bag to find something to wear. 'The perks of having your own room' she thought to herself with a smirk.

The next day Rei didn't set an alarm because they still had two days till they had their next concert. She had hoped she would get to sleep in but that went to hell when there was a loud knock at the door. Rei shot up and jumped out of bed. Putting a robe on, she walked over to the door and slightly opened it.

"Well good morning sunshine" Markus cooed.

"Oh shove it, what do you want" Rei was annoyed, she wanted to get back to sleep.

"Oh, did I wake you buttercup?" Markus cooed again.

"Serious Markus, what do you want?" Rei flashed him a look that could kill.

Markus laughed "Get dressed oh irritable one, we have studio time remember?"

Rei rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face. Markus laughed even harder and leaned up against the wall waiting for Rei to return. It took Rei maybe five minutes to get dressed and she was out the door. Rei started down the hallway when she noticed Markus was still leaning against the wall.

"Well are you coming?"

Markus pushed himself off the wall and rested an arm around her shoulders and gave her a smile. They walked out of the hotel like this and quickly got into their car. The studio was only a few miles down the road but they didn't want to attract too many people. They rarely ever recorded music while on the road but Markus felt it would do her some good. They arrived at the studio within minutes and were ushered inside. Rei was in awe of the place, there was a grand piano sitting in the one of the rooms, her eyes lit up. Rei sat down at the piano and played a soft melody. There was a smile on her face and she ran her fingers over the ivory. The piano was her first passion and oh how she had missed it.

Two hours had passed before Rei even realized. There were papers thrown atop the piano and sheet music laid out in front of her. Taking the pencil from her mouth Rei looked up at the clock and let out a sigh. There wasn't anything in the world that could calm Rei down how creating music had. Rei use to sit in front of the fire for hours trying to meditate and ease her soul but it never helped. It wasn't till she had met Serena had that changed. Being around her brought feelings she wasn't comfortable with and writing was the one thing she found to help sooth them.

Markus left Rei to her own device and watched her from the control room. The look of agony he saw on his friends face broke his heart. It was a big risk he had known that but he was sure he saw that Serena had returned those feelings. He wasn't sure what the note had said but he was confident that if Rei would just read it that everything would work itself out. He noticed that Rei had stopped working, Markus got up quietly and made his way towards the room.

"You're so cute when you're lost in thought, you know that" Markus said as he sat down next to Rei and ran his fingers over the keys.

Rei blushed and looked at her friend.

"I see why my friends think there is something between us. You're a huge flirt Markus." Rei said starting to play along with him.

Nudging Rei with his elbow he winked at her then stared at the wall behind the piano as if he was remembering something.

"We're both spoken for. Besides your reactions are totally worth it."

Rei rolled her eyes and stood up starting to gather the mess of papers along with the sheet music and stuck them in her notebook. Markus took the cue that they were done here and stood up and headed towards the door holding it open for Rei. When the pair returned to the hotel they gathered in Markus's room to talk about the upcoming show. Rei wanted to show the other guys the songs she had been working on and wanted to see if they wanted to go over to the concert hall to practice.

Serena was mentally exhausted and hanging out with her friends didn't seem to help her any. She had spent the night at Amara and Michelle's place simply because she didn't feel like arguing with her blonde haired friend. She didn't sleep well that night either, she laid awake staring at the ceiling thinking about the situation she was in. The sun had started to peak through the windows when Serena sat up in bed giving up on getting any sleep. Kicking off her covers she made her way to the bathroom and decided she would get dressed for the day. Leaving the bathroom she noticed there was a light on in the kitchen so she decided to see who it was. Walking into the kitchen she saw Amara reaching for the coffee pot. Noticing she wasn't alone Amara turned to face Serena.

"You're up before sun is completely up, I think this is a first." Amara smiled.

"You have to go to sleep before you can wake up" Serena stated taking the cup that Amara was offering. Serena didn't typically drink coffee but she was going to need it today.

"Worrying so much will cause you to get wrinkles. Have you decided what you're going to do?"

"Tell Darien the truth. It's been years and I can't just go back to how things use to be."

"And Rei?"

Serena let out a sigh. Thinking for a moment looking deep into her coffee as if it was going to give it the answers she was desperately seeking.

"Last time I called her, her cell phone wasn't on and I don't have another way to get ahold of her."

"That's not an answer to my question."

"I… I…" Serena stopped and looked up from her coffee. She couldn't even tell one of her closest friends how she was feeling. Serena groaned and set down the coffee cup and started to pace in the kitchen.

"I'll tell her how I feel" She said out of the blue not speaking to Amara but as if she was trying to convince herself that's what she was going to do it.

Amara smiled. Serena had a look of determination of her face. As she was leaving the kitchen Amara called out "Where are you going?"

"I have a plan, just going to get my phone." A moment later Serena was back in the kitchen sitting on the counter with her legs crossed scrolling through her contact.

Serena was sitting very impatiently in a booth at the crown. Looking at her watch she noticed it was just now ten o'clock. Serena was annoyed that time was moving by so slowly. Andrew noticed Serena sitting alone so he decided to go over and talk to her for a few. Sitting down he tried to get the girls attention.

"Earth to Serena" He said waving his hand in front of her.

Coming to Serena blinked a few times. "Oh hi Andrew, sorry I was thinking."

"No worries, what are you doing here all by yourself?" Andrew said and flashed her a smile.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for my friends, they should be here any minute."

"I'm impressed, you're here first" Andrew chuckled.

Serena let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "You know I'm actually pretty punctual, I have grown up a little Andrew."

Serena's statement only made Andrew laugh a little harder putting his hands up in defense.

"Oh I'm sure Serena, I meant no offence."

The chime on the door rang throughout the crown and Serena's head shot up hoping it was her friends. To her surprise it was Darien. 'Shit, that's right, I need to talk to him. But not right now' Serena thought to herself and she began to stand up to leave. Andrew turned his head to see how had walked in to cause Serena to get up to leave.

"Hey! Man it's been years, Darien." Andrew said while standing up to go over to his best friend.

"Yeah I just got back into town yesterday. Sorry I didn't call."

"No worries man come sit, let's catch up" Andrew said pointing over to where Serena was standing.

Darien looked over at Serena and smiled. He noticed she was walking towards the pair. His smile got bigger.

"Well I need to be going Andrew it was nice talking to you." Serena stated politely.

"I thought you were meeting your friends?"

She stopped just as she got to the door. 'Shit' Serena thought to herself. She had forgotten that she was meeting her friends to discuss her plan on how to make things up to Rei. Walking back over to the pair she stood there not really sure what to say. The three made their way back over to the booth. Serena sat a crossed from Darien and Andrew looking down at her hands resting in her lap.

"How long are you in town?"

Serena looked up when she heard the question. She prayed to God that Darien would give a vague answer and not explain that he was back to win Serena over. She looked at Darien who was now looking at her. Their eyes locked for a moment before Darien answered.

"I haven't decided yet."

"We'll have to get together and catch up. I need to be getting back to work. I'll see you two later."

Serena smiled at Andrew then went back to looking at her hands. Darien noticed that Serena was acting strange but before he could ask her what was going on the chime went off again and in walked Serena's friends. Seeing this Darien took that as a cue to get up and leave. While by the girls he flashed them a smile and headed out the door. The group made their way to the booth and sat down.

"You didn't tell us Darien was back?!" Mine slightly yelled at the blonde.

"Calm down mina, I just found out yesterday." Serena stated flatly.

Serena noticed all of her friend were staring at her so she decided to tell them what happened and why she wasn't with Rei. The conversation carried on much longer than Serena had wanted but it felt good to talk about it.

"Never mind why he is here, what I need help with is getting Rei to talk to me."

"Wait, can be back up a minute. You haven't talked to Darien about this have you?" Mina asked.

"Not yet but I planned on it."

"Shouldn't you do that before you go talk to Rei, you can't lead them both on." Amy stated

"I'm not leading anyone on, I just haven't done it yet okay."

The girls looked at their blonde haired friend then they all nodded and smiled. The girls talked about how they could get Rei to talk to Serena again. No one knew how to get ahold of her. They didn't think to ask for another number since Serena was supposed to be with her they could have always called one of them if they wanted to get a hold of either one.

"I was thinking about going up there and going to one of her concerts, maybe get back stage passes and surprise her."

"That could work, don't they always do a meet and greet after the show for people with back stage passes?"

"I'm not sure, I know they like to meet their fans so it's possible."

Serena rested her chin on her hand staring out the window of the crown. She didn't know how she was going to get Rei to understand. She just knew that she had to try. The group talked for another hour or so before they split up and decided to go their own ways. Serena was walking down the street lost deep in thought when she found herself at the park again. 'I always find myself here' Serena thought as she walked over to their bench and sat down. She had only been there for a few minutes when her cell phone rang. Excited, she answered without looking to see who it was.

"Hey!"

"Hey Serena"

"Oh… it's just you… Hi Darien"

"Now don't sound too upset to speak to me."

"Look I don't think…" was all Serena could get out before she was cut off my Darien.

"There's this big concert up north in a few days and I happened to score some back stage passes. I didn't know if you knew but Rei's in a band and they are in town. I figured we could go together and go see her. I mean if you want that is… I know it's a last minute thing but I just…"

Serena cut him off before he could finish what he was saying.

"I'd love to…" Serena had surprised herself with the answer she just gave. She reminded herself that she need to talk to Darien before this situation get any farther out of hand.

"Great, well we can head up there the night before…" Darien sounded too excited for Serena's liking. Sucking in a breath she decided to bite the bullet now before something happened that she couldn't explain to anyone.

"Darien" Serena called out but Darien was going off rambling about the things they could do while they were out of town.

"Darien" she called out a little louder this time. Darien noticed and finally stopped talking.

"Yes?" He asked

"I think we need to have a talk before this little trip out of town."

"Okay…" was all he said

Serena let out and sigh and decided it was now or never and she defiantly needed it to be now.

"I know your intentions for us to get back together are serious but I need to be honest with you because I can't let anyone else get hurt." Serena started off.

"We broke up for a very good reason, you left and weren't even sure you were going to come back. It's been far too many years and my feelings for you are not the same as they once were."

Serena paused again willing herself to continue.

"I have feelings for someone else and I am interested in exploring those feelings. If you do not wish to go to the concert then I understand. I just couldn't go away with you for the weekend with you thinking there was a chance we would get back together." Serena finished.

There was silence on the line for a moment. She wasn't sure if Darien had hung up the phone or fainted. Sitting on the bench looking over the water she waited for his reply. She could hear him breathing so she knew he was still there. Another moment went by and he still hadn't said anything.

"Darien?" she said softly.

"Yes, im here… just thinking."

"I'm sorry"

"No, no you're right it has been to many years. I thought by leaving I was doing the right thing. We had been together for so long and I just figured that you would want to experience life a little more. When you… I mean we decided to break up. I thought that maybe that's why you had found someone else. You never seemed happy around me Serena. I'm sorry I left."

Serena sucked in some air and was about to reply but she couldn't. She didn't know what to say to the voice on the other line. She had loved him all those years ago and probably would have loved him still if he wouldn't have left, maybe not the way he wanted her to but none the less still loved him. It took Serena a while to get over his absence, but being around Rei made it better. A smiled came to her lips when she thought about Rei then she frowned thinking of the past few years and the day Rei had left.

"I'm sorry I couldn't love you like you loved me Darien."

There was a slight chuckle on the other line.

"It's okay Serena, first loves are always hard to get over."

"Darien you're my…" She trailed off not even sure if she could actually say it.

"Serena I think we both know you're wrong about that. You may have loved me but I think it's because you felt you had to."

Serena looked down at the ground then back at the water. 'Had I really loved Rei all along and was just too blind to see it. How come everyone else knows but me?' Serena thought to herself before turning her attention back to the conversation she was having on the phone.

"Is it really that obvious?" Serena asked.

"Yes." Darien quickly changed the subject back to the concert.

"My offer still stands I mean that is if you still want to go? I've already bought the tickets and I think it would be a nice surprise for Rei."

Serena laughed lightly and decided she should tell Darien that it was Rei before things got really crazy.

"I'minlovewithRei" Serena said in one strung together sentence. She had blurted it out without even a pause.

"You love Rei?" Darien asked sounding a bit surprised.

"Yes…." Was all Serena could get out.

"The other morning when I came to your house, you were packed ready to go somewhere. Where you headed to meet Rei?"

"Yes…" was all she replied again.

"But you didn't… how come?"

"I… I… saw you standing there in front of me and I panicked. I hadn't seen you in so long and there you were hair a mess looking worn out. I didn't know what to do. So I decided to stay, it all felt like a dream… I guess I needed to know you were real. I had always thought that you would return someday. Granted I had thought it would have been maybe a few months after you had left saying you couldn't be away from me and had to come back. So when I saw you standing there, that's all I could think about. Then I saw the car and I had to decide…. I should have went, but at the same I couldn't."

They carried on their conversation for a little while longer but it was getting late and Serena needed to get getting home to take care of things if she was going to be going away this weekend. She said Good bye to Darien and got up from the bench making her way to her apartment. Since her bags were already packed she didn't have to do too much but take a few things out of her bags that she wouldn't need since she would only be gone for the weekend. She set her phone down on the table in the hall way while she began to go through her bags. A while had passed when her phone started to vibrate. She turned her attention to her to it. Serena stretched out to as far as she could to reach it from her position on the floor. She clicked on the screen it was a message from Mina.

Mina: Hey, any ideas on getting Rei to talk to you?

Serena: Yeah, I'm heading up there with Darien this weekend…

Suddenly there was a call from Mina. Serena answered it knowing what the girl was about to say.

"First it's not like that and second I told her that I'm in love with Rei." Serena stated before Mina had a chance to say anything. There was silence on the line for a second.

"Good. Man I was about to lecture you. Does Rei know you're coming?"

"No, I can't get ahold of her. She still has her phone off."

"I'm sure everything will work out Serena just be honest with her when you get there."

"I plan on it. I just hope she'll speak to me. I need to be going ill be in touch"

The Train ride was really nerve racking for Serena. She couldn't sit still and didn't really have much to talk about. Her mind was racing. Dairen tired his best to distract her by talking about the states but it didn't help Serena wasn't interested. They pulled into the station by late afternoon and got settled into their hotel room. The concert wasn't till tomorrow so they decided to do some site seeing.

**A/N: Alright I decided to stop it there. I debated about adding another scene with Markus and Rei but it would have just been filler. Not quite 10,000 words just over 7,000 but that's still good. I've been debating about lowering the word count per chapter to make it easier for the reader anyways. **

**Just wanted to explain a few things. I use the dub names because I grew up with them. I use Rei instead of Raye because I like the way it looks. I could switch to the Japanese names but it would get confusing for me lol. **

**Also this is loosely based off the anime. So there won't be in fighting or anything. Only Amara and Rei call her Princess and there is a slight hint towards Serena's destiny with Darien.**

**Also sorry if there are any mistakes **


	4. Author's note

Just a little Author's note not an actual update.

I have been bouncing ideas off a few of my friends. The more I think about it the more I'm not okay with how things are going with my story. Darien left without explanation. Then shortly after Rei leaves because of her feelings for Serena, Well honestly for me. She's had two years to grow some balls and tell Serena that she loves her because Darien isn't in the picture anymore but she doesn't then randomly just decides that it's too much and leaves…. Yeah… so I've been playing around with an idea…. There's another reason why she left…. It's a bit dark but well it should be interesting… if I decide to go with it I'll probably end up doing a rewrite of the previous chapters to tweak them a little because some of the things that are said wouldn't fit and how Rei acts would be a little off…. But I don't want to give too much away. As for Darien there will be an explanation… I thought about the whole dream thing… but really it's overdone… So if I go with in the direction I want to it should add a few more chapters to the story.

I am in college and final exams are just a few weeks away and I have a few papers and projects that are do so I haven't really had the time to write as much as I'd like. But I have been working on different ways the conversations between Serena and Darien and Serena and Rei are going to go… It has to be right. I want to involve Mina in it more too since she is the only one who has been in contact with Rei since she left. Working on that as well…

The way it's looking is Chapter four is going to be a short one with chapter five being completely a flash black explaining why Rei left and tying in why her grandpa isn't running the shrine anymore. Since I kind of just left that out altogether.

So just sit tight hopefully over the weekend I can get chapter four up.

Thanks for the reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

**Sailormoon isn't mine nor are the song's used. **

Darien and Serena were standing outside the concert hall. Serena was pacing back and forth muttering to herself. Darien reached out and grabbed her shoulder trying to get her to stop and calm her down.

"Serena you need to calm down. Everything is going to be okay. I'm sure once you get the chance to talk to her everything is going to be okay."

Serena stopped and looked at Darien.

"How do you know? She's had her phone off since she left. I have no idea how she's feeling or what she's thinking."

Serena looked down at her phone to check the time. "We better get in there. They show is going to start soon. I think it will be better to wait till after to speak to her. I don't want to interfere with her performance."

Darien nodded and they walked towards the concert hall. They were ushered back stage, once back there they were instructed to stand with a small group of people. Serena had pushed her way to the front to make sure that if Rei had looked over to the side of the stage that she would be able to see her. Serena was really nervous she couldn't keep her hands still and kept looking around for Rei or Markus. The concert hall went dark and Serena could barely see the band make their way past her. She frowned slightly because she was sure that Rei hadn't seen her. The band took their usual marks on stage. The stage lit up and it was in that moment that Rei looked to the left of the stage right at Serena. Time stood still for the two.

As the music started to play Rei was knocked out of the bond. She walked over to Markus whispered something into his ear, he looked in Serena's0 direction with a look of shock on his face. Rei and Markus seemed to be arguing as the music continued to play and from the looks of it Rei was winning. After another minute she walked to the other band mates and gave them a few orders then walked over to the piano that was on stage.

"Sorry for the delay folks, we have a bit of a set change. We hope you enjoy this song as much as we enjoy playing it for you!" Rei said into the microphone. She looked over at Markus gave him a wink and began to play. A lightly melody filled the concert hall as Markus softly began to sing.

"You said don't wait up"

"But I can't help myself"

"You swear just friends"

"But I know better than that"

"So baby when you leave this place I don't wanna hear your name"

"Promise when you walk away you're never coming back again"

"You left me nothing, nothing, nothing"

"Nothing, nothing, nothing at all"

"You left me nothing, nothing, nothing"

"Nothing, nothing, nothing at all"

Rei watched as Markus sung the words she had wrote on the train just days before. She had wanted to watch Serena's reaction but she couldn't bring herself to look over there. She had noticed that Darien was with her. 'He was the reason she didn't come.' She thought to herself. She knew this was the perfect song. Serena would get it after this. She tried to will away her tears. She had a long night ahead of her, she needed to get it together. Markus looked back at her and smiled as Rei began to sing with everything that was in her.

"Your heart, to cold"

"So you don't ever feel"

"My words on deaf ears"

"No you will ever hear"

Markus joined Rei and they finished out the song

"So baby when you leave this place"

"I don't wanna hear your name"

"Promise when you walk away"

"You're never coming back again"

"You left me nothing, nothing, nothing"

"Nothing, nothing, nothing at all"

"You left me nothing, nothing, nothing"

Rei stood up from the piano grabbed the microphone and walked towards the front of the stage to join Markus and looked over at him giving him another wink and continued to sing.

"Don't hold me to tightly cause I'll be reminded of why I wanted you here"

"And the last thing I need is for you to believe that there is anything left that can change how I feel"

Rei didn't make any effort to hide any of the emotion on her face. The music began to slow as Markus began to sing the last two lines as Rei put her microphone on the stand.

"I wish there was any other way"

"I'm sure there's no chance you'll ever change"

As the music faded Markus and Rei took a bow and smiled out to the crowd. Rei looked over to the left and noticed that Darien was now right behind Serena. She quickly looked away and walked over to Markus to discuss the next song, if she had her way the lineup was going to be completely different then what they have rehearsed yesterday.

* * *

Serena looked at Rei, she couldn't take her eyes off of her. She didn't know that Rei knew how to play the Piano and she had a feeling that this song was directed towards her. She didn't notice but she had been holding her breath the entire song. There was such emotion in Rei's voice and there was a look in Rei's eyes that made her shiver. She noticed Rei look her way again but this time she looked passed her so Serena turned around and tried to see who she as looking at. That's when she noticed Darien was right behind her. Serena panicked.

"What are you doing Darien?" she questioned.

"I'm watching the show Serena." He said with a shrug.

"Rei just looked over here and saw us standing together, she probably thinks we're together and thinks you're the reason why I didn't go." Serena let out a sigh.

"I am the reason you didn't go" Darien pointed out.

Serena shot him a look and turned around to see the band in the middle of the stage talking. She wondered what was going on.

* * *

Rei and Markus was going back and Forth. The other three were just standing there watching the scene before them. This was highly unlike the two. If they didn't stay playing soon then fans would know something was up.

"Rei we can't change the entire set up!" Markus yelled.

"I don't care Markus."

"Look I understand your emotions are running wild because she is here. But we rehearsed certain songs so we're going to play those songs. This isn't like you, stop acting like a brat."

Rei let out a sigh and started to rub her temples. He was right this wasn't like her, she performed for her fans it was about them. Not about the blonde haired girl standing just off stage.

"Alright, just…" she let out a sigh.

"Let's do this one song and we'll go back to what's on the set list alright?"

The bad members all nodded in agreement and all went back to their marks. Markus quickly spoke.

"Sorry about the delay folks, Rei's always had a spontaneous soul and wanted to try out this new song, it took some convincing but who can say no to that pretty face" Markus winked. "This is called in my bones. We hope you like it."

Markus took is microphone off the stand and walked over to Rei who was sitting at the piano again. As Rei started to play Markus stood next to the piano and began to sing.

"I thought I saw an angel, calling me across the yard"

"She said baby it's been real but now I'm gone"

"I should've known much better, you can't tame something so wild"

Rei's hands slid perfectly over the ivory keys. Hitting each note with such passion. Markus looked down at Rei as she started to sing.

"It's my fault, I don't care"

"I can't hate you, if you're not here"

"Once you go, never ever turn around"

"I have sacrificed and I have burred"

"Oh you gotta live before you learn"

"I wanted the truth, but sometimes the truth hurts"

Markus sat down next to Rei nudged her shoulder then continued to sing.

"My angel with dirty wings, she used to make me smile"

"But she kept all of her secrets locked inside"

"In a place I could not reach her, though I tried with all my might"

"And when I begged for something real she said good-bye"

Rei looked at Markus with a sad smile and finished out the song.

"And I am sure I'll be just fine"

"If I remember she wasn't ever mine."

"And I am sure I'll be just fine"

"If I remember she wasn't ever mine."

With a few more strokes of the keys and the music faded. Markus and Rei stood and took another bow. They pair walked towards the front of the stage. Markus gave Rei a light hug as the next song began to play. Rei sighed and took the microphone. 'I just want this night to be over with' Rei thought as she smiled and looked out over the crowd.

As the second song as come to an end Serena was becoming less confident that Rei was going to understand. She was pretty sure that Rei had thought that she was with Darien. Which thinking back on it coming here with Darien probably wasn't the best choice but it was a means to an end and she needed to speak to Rei. Serena was sure she loved Rei and she wasn't leaving here till Rei knew it. Till Rei understood that she wasn't going anywhere. Serena was knocked out of her thoughts by the start of the next song. She looked back at the stage.

Rei's voice was soft as she sung the first line.

"What if I told you?"

"Who I really was, what if I let you in on my charade"

"What if I told you?"

"What was really going on?"

"No more masks and no more parts to play"

Markus was supposed to join in on the next line but he felt the song would come across better if Rei had handled this one by herself. If she wasn't going to help herself, he was going to give her the push she needed.

"There's so much I want to say"

Rei looked over at Markus trying to get him to start singing and he just smiled and winked then shrugged in the direction of Serena. Rei rolled her eyes and continued to sing.

"But I'm so scared to give away"

"Every little secret that I hide behind"

Rei couldn't help but look to the side of the stage to where Serena was. She knew she was dooming herself but she felt drawn to her. The moment their eyes locked she knew she wouldn't look away till the song was over.

"Would you see me differently?"

"And would that be... Such... a bad... thing"

"I wonder what it would be like"

"If I told you"

Rei let the music wash over her, a sweet soft melody. 'Maybe I should have started out with this song.' Rei thought to herself as she began to sing again.

"What if I told you?"

"That's it's just a front"

"To hide the insecurities I have"

"What if I told you?"

"That I'm not as strong"

"As I like to make believe I am"

As the song ended the concert hall filled with cheers and roars. Rei took a bow and shot Markus a look of death. Then a smirk appeared on Rei's face remembering the night they had gone out. Rei sent Markus a wink as she walked off stage for a minute to talk to one of the special effect guys then returned with a look Markus couldn't describe.

"Rei what are you doing?"

"Oh nothing" Rei said with a smile.

Re grabbed her microphone and smiled out at the crowd.

"How is everyone out there tonight?!"

The crowd went wild.

"I have something special I'd like to share with you all tonight. I'm originally from Tokyo and when I got to the states I met Markus. His been like a big bother to me ever since. Well the other night we had gone out with a few friends of mine and as little sister should, I just wanted to share some videos from that night." Rei said with a laugh.

A screen covered the stage and a video of Markus singing baby got back showed up on screen. Markus's face turned bright red. He shot Rei a look telling her that this was only the beginning. He walked over to his microphone.

"Oh who is that sexy man up there?" Markus said with a laugh. He wasn't going t let Rei win.

"Now that you've had your fun dear Rei lets get back to the show shall we?"

Rei rolled her eyes at Markus as the screen disappeared. The show was coming to an end, the pair had sung a couple more songs. Rei was getting tried which was unusual. She was emotionally drained. It didn't help that Serena was standing maybe a hundred feet away from her with someone she didn't expect to see. They had one song left to sing. Rei really didn't want to sing it but since she had caused drama in the beginning of the show she couldn't get out of it now. She didn't want to sing the words because she wasn't sure if they meant anything now. She was so conflicted, so confused. Rei could have lived with Serena not showing, she would have gone back to the states continued to make music and gone on with her life. But she's here with Darien throwing it in her face. How she is going to deal with things now?

The band started to play, a rustic beat of the drums and the twang of the electric guitar brought her back to reality. She looked over to where Markus had been standing and noticed he was no longer on stage but standing next to Serena. He gave Rei a smile and mouthed 'go on' with a sigh Rei began to sing.

"We might have met as children"

"Maybe it's been a couple weeks"

"I don't even know anymore"

"You have that effect on me"

Rei took her microphone from the stand and walked to the other end of the stage bending down to touch the hands of the fans in the first row.

"And now I'm feeling like forever"

"Just showed up at my door"

"I've got a little piece of heaven"

"It's all mine to hold onto"

She made her way to the other side of the stage and bent down again making her she touched a few of her fans hands.

"What I'm trying to say"

"In my own simple way"

She stood up and made her way back to center stage placing her microphone back on the stand and closed her eyes as she sung.

"Is I want you to be"

"My last first kiss"

"I want you to be my"

"Last first kiss"

She opened her eyes and turned to look at Serena who was looking down at the ground. Markus nudged her with his elbow and her head shot up just as Rei sung.

"My heart yes it's finally found"

"Someone it can't live without"

Rei didn't look away from Serena, she couldn't.

"And I wonder what you're thinking"

"Whenever you're not around"

"Any secret I was keeping"

"I wanna tell you right now"

"And when I dream about tomorrow"

"I've got you on my mind"

"I am hopelessly devoted"

"Just want you in my life"

* * *

Serena was surprised when she saw that Markus was making his was over to her. There was sweat pouring from his face but he didn't look worn out. She smiled up at the man. Then turned her attention back to the stage as Rei began to sing.

"She didn't expect you to see you here after you didn't show." Markus stated.

Serena looked down at the ground not sure what to say to the man next to her. Staring at the floor Serena finally answered

"I had every intention of coming then things got really complicated."

"Yeah, I can see. Who's the guy?" Markus questioned looking back at Darien.

Serena lifted her Head for a moment looking back at Darien. A blush crept across her face.

"Oh… that's uh Darien…. He's just a friend."

Markus raised an eyebrow. "I see" was all he said as he turned back to watch Rei.

Serena had gone back to watching the floor when Markus had nudged her in the side with his elbow and in that moment she had locked eyes with Rei. Everything else had disappeared. Nothing else mattered but the two of them. Serena's heart started to beat fast. The song had come to an end but the two girls hadn't stopped staring at each other. Markus had left Serena's side to walk back out on stage so they could take a bow and say good night to their fans.

Rei looked away from Serena when she felt Markus's hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him and gave him a small smile. Rei took his hand in hers and they took a bow. The other three band members joined them and the bowed again. Markus took the microphone and thanked the fans for joining them tonight and hoped they enjoyed the show. The curtains on the stage closed and the band stood around for a second talking.

"How am I going to face her" Rei blurted out.

"Just go over there and talk. You have to go over there anyways its part of the back stage experience" Markus pointed out.

"This is great, why couldn't she just stay gone."

"Because you love her, and she loves you"

"She's with him, she doesn't love me." Rei let out a sigh

"Let's just get this over with"

The band made their way over to the group of people waiting to meet them but when they got there Darien and Serena were no longer in the front. 'Maybe they decided to leave' Rei thought letting out a sigh of relief. Relaxing a little Rei and the others signed autographs and took pictures with their fans had a few laughs and spent a few minutes with each of them. They were getting ready to head to their dressing rooms when a hand reached out for Rei's wrist. Rei stopped and turned around. She put a smile on her face trying to be polite a possible.

"Rei… i..." Serena started.

"Hello Darien, it's a surprise to see you." Rei said ignoring Serena by cutting her off trying to keep her composure.

Markus walked up next to Rei to make sure things didn't get out of control and to make sure his friend didn't say anything she wasn't going to regret later.

"Yes, it's been a while. I didn't know you moved to the states as well. You have such great talent."

"Thank you, so what are you doing back?"

"Well school is over so I decided to take a vacation"

Serena had enough of the meaningless conversation and cut Darien off. She knew what Rei was getting at and was starting to get annoyed.

"Rei is there anywhere we could go and talk?"

Rei finally brought her attention to the blonde. She looked at her a moment and said.

"There isn't anything to talk about" with that remark Markus elbowed Rei in the side. Rei shot Markus a look and rubbed her side.

"Yes there is Rei, please."

Rei stood there for a minute looking at the blonde in front of her staring at her with pleading eyes. How could she say no? She loved the girl before her with everything that was in her. But at the same time how could she say yes. Serena was here with Darien. Maybe she was just being stubborn. 'I really need to learn to get over that' she thought to herself.

"I really don't have it in me tonight Serena, we still have to pack up here. It will be late before we get done. How about you come over to our hotel in the morning?" Rei said looking at Darien trying to judge his reaction. It wasn't a total lie. She really was mentally worn out. She needed a little while longer to think. If they spoke now it would be out of mixed emotions and right now Rei didn't have very many nice things to say to the blonde haired girl.

Serena thought for a moment. She didn't want to push her but she needed Rei to understand. Serena feared that if she agreed that Rei wouldn't be there tomorrow. Serena blinked a few times before saying anything.

"You promise?" Was all Serena could manage to say with a little uncertainty in her voice. Rei look into Serena's sapphire eyes a moment and gave her a small smile.

"Promise, come by the hotel in the morning around eight, we have rehearsal at noon. That should give us enough time to talk." Braking their gaze Rei gave a nod to Darien then turned to continue to walk back to the dressing rooms.

* * *

Markus took a moment before following his friend he sent Serena a smile and a wink then ran after Rei to make sure she was okay. He found Rei leaning against the dressing room door. Her head resting back on the door with her eyes closed her breathing in a slow rhythm as if she was meditating. Markus was unsure of what to do so he decided to lean against the wall next to her and wait till she was ready to talk. Markus wasn't sure of how much time had passed and he didn't want to push her into talking but they couldn't stand there all night so he decided to push a little and see how she reacted.

"You should tell her you know" Markus spoke softly.

Rei opened her eyes and looked over at her friend. Markus meant well but she really didn't need this at the moment. With a sigh she pushed herself off the door.

"Yes, I should tell her, actually they all should know the reasons why I left…" Rei trailed off as the memory flashed through her mind. A tear slid down her cheek. She hated when her emotions got the best of her. Rei's cell phone beeped as she checked her messages, she smiled then showed her phone to Markus who laughed a little.

"We should really get to work it's getting late and you have a date to keep tomorrow morning" Markus said with a smile lightly hitting Rei's shoulder. Rei rolled her eyes.

"Actually can you guys handle it tonight, I need to make a call before it gets too late."

Markus gave her a look of uncertainty. "I'm okay, I just need to talk to Mina."

Markus raised his eyebrow and smirked at her. "Yeah, im sure we can handle it, but you owe me double for tonight's little stunt and for slacking off."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" Rei said smiling as she let herself into the dressing room to change so she could head back to her hotel room. Within minutes Rei was back in her hotel room sitting on her bed staring at her phone. If she waited much longer she was sure the blonde haired girl would be asleep by now. She let out a deep breath and picked up her phone and hit the speed dial. It took the girl on the other mine a few minutes to answer, Rei was about to hang out when she heard the voice on the line.

"Hello?" came a soft mumble.

"It's Rei… I'm sorry did I wake you?" Rei felt badly, over the years couldn't count the many times she had called her friend while she had slept.

"Hmm, you know it's alright Rei" Rei could hear Mina stretch and sit up. It took Rei a few moments to say anything else she sat on her bed staring at the wall.

"I think I'm finally ready to tell them" Rei blurted out.

"You mean about…"

"Yes" Rei let another tear slip down her cheek cutting her off before she said those words she's been trying to escape for years.

"I got the picture you sent, very cute" Rei smiled at the comment.

"Serena's here with Darien, did you know he was back in town?"

"He came into the crown one day, Serena didn't seem surprised to see him. Though you shouldn't worry about him." Mina stated.

"She wants to talk, tomorrow morning. I'm not sure how to tell her Mina. It's just not something you blurt out. It's not exactly a happy subject."

Mina could hear the sadness and embarrassment in her friend's voice. She'd never forget that day. Everything had changed for the two. Though Rei had decided to leave, to hide everything she was going through the two had become really close. Mina put on a smile and chirped into the phone.

"Have no fear let the Goddess of love work her magic! This is what you're going to do…." Rei couldn't help but laugh at her friends antics picturing Mina putting up her famous "v" with her fingers.

The two girls carried on their conversation for a while longer. The plan was set and it was getting late. Rei yawned and looked over at the clock on the night stand. It was after two in the morning. Mina was talking about some guy she saw in the mall and how gorgeous he was.

"Mina…. Not that I don't love hearing about all these boys you pine over but it's after two in the morning and I told Serena to be here by eight. I need to be getting some sleep. As always thanks for listening."

"Yeah no problem Rei, good luck and let me know how everything works out. When you get back into town we can tell everyone together. No worries there! Now go get her!"

Rei let out a sigh as she placed her phone on the table next to her. She decided to get a shower so she could sleep in just a little bit longer. The shower only lasted but a few minutes. Rei laid down and looked up at the ceiling hoping that everything was going to work out okay.

* * *

Serena didn't move as she watched Rei walk away from her. She still didn't want to wait till the morning to say the things she needed to say. Darien walked up behind her putting a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump a little.

"Geez, don't sneak up on people like that." Serena said grabbing her chest trying to calm herself.

Darien chuckled at the sight "Sorry, It's just that it's getting late we should probably head back to the hotel. "

Serena gave him a nod and then gave one glance back in the direction in which Rei had walked off. The pair walked around the back stage area for a few minutes before they could figure out how to get out of there. There was a light breeze and Serena began to shiver. Darien looked over at Serena and noticed she was cold and handed over his jacket. Serena looked at him and then the jacket a second before taking it. Slipping it over her shoulders she asked the one question Darien ever gave a clear answer to.

"Why did you leave?"

"I'm not sure that matters at this point, Serena. Besides I already told you."

Serena looked over at Darien, his hands were behind his head and he was looking straight ahead like he was in a far off place.

"Yes, of course it matters."

Darien let out a sigh and dropped his hands and shoved them into his pockets. When he decided to come back he didn't think this is how they would have ended up.

"It's real foolish actually" Darien started glancing over at Serena who was looking straight ahead. When Serena didn't look over at him or reply he continued.

"I started thinking about our future. You know us getting married, kids, having a life and I got a little scared." Darien laughed a little still Serena didn't look at the man standing next to her she just kept on walking.

"Then I started to notice things, you were acting different around me. You weren't as happy as you once were, at least you didn't seem happy around me. Then I got this opportunity to go to school in the states and I just figured that maybe things would be better off if I went."

Serena tensed at the statement. How could someone who seemed to love her so dearly just make a decision like that when it involved more than just themselves.

"Contrary to popular belief, I can handle myself when it comes to matters like that. We were in a relationship, why didn't you come talk to me instead of running off?" Serena shot back.

"Because like Rei I don't have a strong suit in sharing my feelings. Before you and the girls came into my life I was alone. Besides I didn't want you to feel like we had to be together. I figured letting you go was the right choice. I'd rather be hated and you be happy then you not being happy." Darien sighed and gave a small shrug.

Darien looked over at Serena who looked like she was deep in thought.

"It was by nowhere near fair to you, and I am sorry. I can back to tell you I was foolish and had hoped that things could have been different. Though I didn't mean to show up at your house at five am. I got a little carried away." Darien said with a smile.

Serena looked over at Darien with a weak smile as they arrived at the hotel. Darien told Serena to hold on a minute. He didn't think they should share a hotel room together since it might look bad if Rei found out. For that Serena was very appreciative. They made it to Serena's room and stood in an uneasy silence before Darien spoke again.

"I'm sorry for the pain I caused when I left. I thought you'd be happier being able to find someone who really made you happy"

Serena finally broke her silence. She looked up at Darien while she rested on the wall.

"I think between Rei and yourself I've developed a complex" Serena said with a light chuckle rubbing her temples then continued.

"Two of the most important people in my life decide that they need to disappear. That whatever is bothering then is too great that they cannot come to me and speak to me. I know I need to swallow my pride here but I can't help but feel a little hurt." Serena said letting out a sigh.

"I'm sure she has a better reason then I do, just talk to her. Though I wouldn't suggest trying to pry too much. Let her do the talking and go from there. If she loves you and realizes how important the conversation really is then she will open up to you no matter what."

Serena smiled at Darien then yawned it was late and she did have to be up early in the morning. This was something she couldn't be late for.

"Go to bed meatball head." Darien said with a chuckle as he waited for her to get inside her room just to make sure she was safe.

**A/N: So I decided to stop it there. I was going to put Serena and Rei's conversation in this chapter but decided that if I was going to explain everything in a flack back scene that the conversation should go along with it. **

**After I posted the author's note I had decided I wasn't going to write this weekend and focus on my studies but I went to a Bonfire last night (30 foot flames it was amazing) I felt inspired to get this chapter finished. So I put off my class work to finish this ha. **

**Darien's reason is leaving is a bit of a copout but its better than the whole I had a dream so I left…. Blah… **

**I'm excited for the next chapter though. Serena finds out why Rei left. It's a bit dark so I need to change the rating just to be safe because of the graphic scene next chapter. **

**I've come to the conclusion the reason why I am focusing so much on Amara and Mina is because of the Stories I've been reading lately. I'll try to add more of the others too…**

**Oh… yeah the songs, I really had wanted to use Everybody's fool by Evanescence, but it was a little too dark for me, but the lines "Look here she comes now bow down and stare in wonder. Oh how we love you, no flaws when you're pretending" is perfect for how Rei is feeling… the song fits but it's just too dark because Rei isn't trying to push the girl away. Always wanted to make an AMV to sailormoon with this song. At the end of story I'll post a list of the songs and who they are by in case anyone wants to check them out.**

**Anyways that's all for now. Sorry the rant is a bit long. Hope you enjoyed it! **


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